Masks
by FictionWriter145
Summary: For two years, Danielle Baldric (otherwise known as the Pure Alchemist) has been working reconnaissance missions under the orders of Roy Mustang. What happens when she is assigned to work with the infamous Fullmetal Alchemist and his younger brother as they search for a way to get their bodies back?
1. Pure Alchemist

**Author's Note**

Before you guys start reading the story, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THIS NOTE.

Just a few warnings before you read my story. First of all, this is an OC-insert, meaning that the story is mostly cannon, with original dialogue and original scenes mixed in. There may be a few instances where my character "steals" lines from other characters, but the reason is that the presence of my character changes certain events so that they happen differently than they did in the anime/manga. If this isn't your cup of tea, I wouldn't recommend reading this.

Second, this is an Edward/OC story. I have nothing against Edward and Winry as a couple (on the contrary, I find them adorable :3), but the idea of giving Edward a different love interest jumped into my head and I decided to go with it.

Lastly, I know that there are plenty of you guys who, when you see a strong OC, automatically dub them a "Mary-Sue" character. I tend to dislike perfect characters as much as the next girl, but, sometimes, when I come up with an OC, they come out seemingly perfect, so I give them as many insecurities and weaknesses as possible while at the same time trying to make them seem believable. Hopefully, I succeeded in doing that with this character.

Anyway, that's it for warnings. Please enjoy! Leave a review if you can! I like to know what people like/dislike about my stories :)

 **Chapter One: The** **Pure Alchemist**

A petite figure could be seen walking down the hallway leading to Roy Mustang's office. At first glance, anyone would mistake this person for a boy. After all, they were wearing tan trousers with a matching newsboy cap and a white button-up shirt that was a little too big for their body. Beneath the cap was a head of shaggy, blonde hair, which fell into crimson eyes.

But, if you looked more closely, the male image that this person projected would start to fall apart, as you noticed that their chest wasn't as flat as it first appeared; that the hair was actually tucked into the hat, with just enough strands hanging down to make what bit of hair that was visible appear to be normal; that the features which appeared masculine at first were actually rather feminine, with just a tinge of virility.

Most people would think that this was weird, a female disguised as a male, but everyone at Central HQ had grown used to it. Reconnaissance was something that Danielle Baldric excelled at, so it was to be expected that Roy often sent her to gather information. If she went out on these missions looking as she usually did, she was relatively easy to spot. So she had come up with the ingenious idea to dress up like a newsboy to keep prying eyes off of her. It ended up working very well. Most people that saw her walking around downtown like this never realized that she was actually a girl.

Dani stopped as a familiar man dressed in a military uniform stepped out of Roy's office, followed by two others. One was relatively short, with golden blonde hair pulled back into a braid, wearing a red coat with a black Flamel emblazoned on the back. The other was a tall suit of armor with the same Flamel painted in red on its left shoulder plate. Trailing behind the armor, at the base of the helmet, was a red thread.

She waited until the trio had disappeared around the corner before she continued to Roy's office.

She poked her head inside the room to see the Colonel staring out of his window while his adjutant, Riza Hawkeye, stood stationary by his desk.

"Was that Maes that I just saw leaving with the Elric brothers?" she asked.

Both occupants turned towards the sudden voice, startled by it.

Roy frowned at the familiar face poking into his office. "Where the hell have you been? I expected you back hours ago," he scolded her.

Dani smiled sheepishly as she stepped out so she was standing completely exposed in the doorway, her hand reaching up to rub the back of her head. "Sorry, I got kind of distracted," she apologized.

She pulled off her newsboy cap, allowing her blonde tresses to fall to the middle of her back. With her hair exposed, she looked more like the girl that she was, with her long bangs framing her face. Her hair was parted to the left so that her left eye was partially obscured, allowing her just enough space to be able to see clearly, without pieces of her hair constantly hanging in her vision.

"You didn't tell me Isaac McDougal was in town," she said.

"That's because we didn't know until an hour ago, when he started to make a mess," Roy replied, before frowning. "Wait, how do you know about McDougal?"

Dani blinked, realizing too late that she had slipped up. "Uh…"

"Did you break into the military records again?"

"No, of course not," she said in as innocent a tone as she could muster. "You told me not to, don't you remember?"

Roy crossed his arms over his chest as he turned to face Dani completely, his lips turned down in a scowl. "Then why is it I'm having trouble believing you?" he asked in a slightly scolding tone. As long as he had been an authoritative figure in Dani's life, he hadn't quite gotten scolding down.

"Because you have trust issues," Dani replied without missing a beat. "And you really should see a psychologist about it."

Roy sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. He obviously wasn't in a very good mood if he was already becoming irked. Usually, he played along whenever Dani teased him, throwing insults back at her and the like.

"I'm really not in the mood for this right now, so just…go back to the inn," Roy ordered her.

"But don't you want to know how I know that Isaac is here?" Dani goaded.

"You saw him fighting the Elrics, or you saw him being escorted to prison," he said, as if he already had the answers.

Dani looked towards the ceiling as she put a gloved hand to her chin, looking thoughtful, although there was a flippant undertone in the way that she held herself. "No, I'm pretty sure he had already escaped when I saw him," she muttered. "I mean, he _was_ heading to Central Prison, but he wasn't with anyone."

Roy frowned. "The prison? Why would he go there?"

Dani dropped her hand to her sides, tucking it into her pant pocket as she lowered her gaze to look at Roy. She held a blank expression now, as if she couldn't believe that he had just asked that. "I don't know," she said, slowly and derisively. "Maybe to find some new recruits for his antimilitary campaign."

He blinked, finally realizing just how stupid his question had been.

Riza picked up the phone and started dialing. "I'll call the guards up at the prison."

"Are you sure that he actually went there?" Roy asked.

"Well, considering I followed him there…" Dani said, trailing off as she noticed his eyes widening in a combination of shock and anger.

"You what? Why the hell would you do that?"

She shrugged. "I was curious."

"Haven't you heard the expression 'curiosity killed the cat'?" he snapped.

"Yeah, but, since I'm not a cat, I figured it didn't apply to me," Dani replied cheekily.

Roy opened his mouth to retort, before seeming to decide against it. Instead, he just shook his head and gave an irritable groan. Dani grinned impishly, feeling quite satisfied that she had left _the_ Roy Mustang speechless. Now, she could end the day feeling as if she had accomplished something, seeing how rare it was that Roy didn't have a comeback.

She pulled a folded envelope out of her pocket, holding it between two gloved fingers. "Well, now that I've told you about Isaac, I guess I should give you this." She flicked her wrist lazily, and the envelope flew across the room at Roy.

He raised his hand and caught it before it could hit him in the face, which was where she had been aiming. He blinked as he looked down to examine the weighted envelope in his hands. When Roy raised his gaze back to the doorway, to thank Dani for delivering it, she was already gone, having left as soon as the envelope left her hands.

He sighed heavily. "Why does she always do that?"

* * *

The next day, Dani strolled the streets of Central City. She still hadn't dressed in her usual clothes, instead having chosen to wear a red hooded jacket over a black tank top and a pair of black trousers. She still wore the same white nylon gloves as yesterday, although it didn't really matter since she kept her hands tucked in the pockets of her jacket.

She didn't have a particular reason for why she wasn't wearing the clothes that she usually wore. Well, she did, but the reasons were more mischievous than practical.

After confirming that Isaac McDougal had indeed broken into Central Prison yesterday, the Fuhrer had Roy initiate a search of the entire city. Since she knew that the Elric brothers were there, after seeing them yesterday, Dani decided that she would mess with them while she looked for Isaac.

In the two years that she had been working for the military under Roy Mustang, she had never had the pleasure of meeting the Elrics. For some reason, whenever they came to visit Roy for a mission assignment, she always ended up being out of town for a mission of her own. Roy assured her that this wasn't on purpose, but she wasn't sure if she believed him. Either way, being the same age as Edward Elric, she was curious to meet him. She had heard stories about his and Alphonse Elric's exploits over the years and wanted to see if they lived up to the hype. Not to mention that she was growing bored of her usual playmates (or victims, as Jean often referred to them, and it really was more appropriate). At any rate, she thought it might be fun to have friends her own age for once.

Dani turned onto a mostly abandoned street and paused as she spotted her targets standing amongst a mass of blue. Military personnel had been swarming the city for the past hour, as if there were a parade, which Dani was pretty sure wasn't the case. Unless the Fuhrer had decided to throw one in Isaac's honor in an attempt to appease him.

…Honestly, she wouldn't put it past him.

She smirked at that thought as she almost skipped down the street to where the Elric brothers were standing.

As she neared them, she realized that they were staring at the body of a military workman. It looked like he had been boiled from the inside out. His skin was bright red, and there was steam still rising from his body. Dani knew from reading Isaac's personnel file (something which Roy did _not_ need to know about) that this was one of his favorite tactics, the other being his ability to freeze people.

"How awful," the younger of the two muttered in a hollow voice.

"A steam explosion," Edward explained. "When you rapidly raise the temperature of water, it then expands with an explosive force. And the human body is seventy percent water…"

"It's definitely a horrible way to go," Dani agreed.

The Elrics jumped at the sound of her voice and turned, obviously having not noticed that she was standing next to them, her head tilted slightly as she observed the steaming corpse with a curious look on her face (scientific curiosity, mind you), as well as a hint of pity in her eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" the eldest Elric demanded.

Dani turned her gaze on the two brothers. She noted that the older brother, Edward, was only an inch shorter than her (because of his elevated shoes). The younger one was almost two times her size. She had to bend her neck back almost all the way just to look him in the face. Well, she said face, but actually it was just a helmet with a large, conical horn in the middle of the forehead, and a pair of parallel vents beneath each half-moon eyehole, and a fang motif just above the protruding chin. She noticed that the eyeholes were animated with this white glow with a red outlining. Dani supposed that it was a result of the soul binding.

She looked back down at Edward, who had taken to glaring at her suspiciously. She guessed that she had forgotten to clear her earlier curiosity from her face before she started staring at his brother.

She smiled in an attempt to pacify him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare." She looked back up at the youngest Elric. "It's just, you're much taller than I expected you to be," she observed with a slight hint of awe in her voice.

The armor clanged as Alphonse started in surprise. "Oh, uh…y-you know me?" he stuttered.

"You're Alphonse Elric, right?"

"How do you know that?" Edward asked.

Dani once again lowered her gaze to look Edward in the eye. His suspicion had doubled after she had revealed that she knew who they were, or at least one of them. But, she supposed, if you knew of one Elric, you knew about the other.

"I'm a friend of Roy's," she explained. "He's told me a lot about you."

"The Colonel?" Alphonse asked, surprised.

She smiled. "Yeah, I don't call him by his title," she said. "It seems like, every time someone does, it just makes his head swell. I have to make sure to cut his ego back down to size every chance that I get just so he can continue to fit through the door."

Edward snorted at that, and even Alphonse let out a little chortle.

Dani grinned, pleased that she had managed to make them laugh. "So, I take it you guys are looking for Isaac too?"

"Yeah, and I think it's time that we got back to it," Edward decided. He turned and started to walk away, motioning for his brother to follow him. "Come on, Al."

"Oh, okay," Alphonse said before he bowed to Dani. "It was nice meeting you."

Dani nodded, smiling, and watched as he hurried to catch up with his brother. Neither of them got very far before there was an explosion from an alley a few buildings down, causing everyone out on the street to stop and turn. Dani noticed several objects shoot out of the dark cloud rising from the alley and, upon closer inspection, realized that they were busts of a very familiar face.

"Looks like you're in luck," she called out to the brothers. "I think Armstrong just found him."

The Elrics took off towards the alley without sparing Dani a second glance. She stared after them for a moment before the corners of her lips turned up into a small smile. She finally took her hands from her pockets and ran after them. She made sure to keep a distance between them, however, so that they wouldn't notice her. They didn't know who she was. If they saw her following them, they would tell her to run back. But there was no way that Dani was missing this fight.

They ran through the front of the alley, where Armstrong and Isaac were having a staring contest.

"Major!" Alphonse cried once they were there.

Dani noticed Isaac's shoulders tense before he spun around, tossing a canteen filled with water at the two running up behind him. An alchemical light formed around the canteen before it burst, and a cloud of steam came spilling out. Alphonse grabbed his brother and spun them both around, so that the steam hit him instead of Edward.

Having been standing far enough back, Dani didn't bother to move as the steam moved towards her, knowing that it would be cooled by the time that it reached her.

The cloud reached her at the same moment that she felt someone run past her. She turned and just barely caught sight of a blue coattail before it disappeared around the corner. She took a brief pause to get her bearings before she hurried after Isaac.

She slid to a stop when she realized that she could no longer see him. She looked up and down the street, searching for a hint as to where he had run to. When she didn't find anything, she relaxed out of her tensed pose, placing her hands on her hips as she stared down the street with a frown on her lips.

"Now I know how Roy feels when I walk out on our meetings when he isn't looking," she muttered to herself.

"Damn it!" Edward cried as he and the others came running up behind her. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know," Dani admitted.

He put his hand to his head and wined, "Aw, man. It's going to take forever to find him again."

"Maybe we don't have to," she muttered, staring ahead thoughtfully.

The Elrics looked at her.

"Huh?" Edward expressed, while Alphonse asked, "What do you mean?"

Dani just glanced over at them before turning to Armstrong. "Do you know what Isaac was doing in that alley in the first place?" she asked. It didn't make since for him to risk going out into the open like that when every soldier in the city was out looking for him. So he must've been doing something important for him to risk being discovered.

"I'm not sure," the Major replied. "When I saw him, he was bent over something. What that was, I could not say."

She nodded and started walking back to the alley. "Let's go find out then, shall we?"

"Who died and made you the boss?" Edward asked, obviously annoyed about some girl that he didn't know giving out orders.

"Nobody," Dani replied. "I became the boss all on my own."

There was a hollow snicker from behind her, followed by an irritable grumble from the older Elric, something about bossy women. But, despite her being so bossy, she heard three pairs of footsteps following after her.

She smiled to herself as she led the way into the alley.

Dani approached a pile of rubble from where Armstrong must have burst through the alley walls, in an attempt to surprise Isaac. She noticed what looked like lines of chalk on the ground, so she knelt down and started moving the debris. Armstrong was quick to join and help her, tossing the larger chunks aside while Dani dealt with the smaller ones.

Once they had cleared the debris away, Dani sat back on her feet and stared at the chalk circle.

"A transmutation circle…" she muttered.

"What's so weird about that?" Edward wondered from where he stood behind her, his arms crossed to further demonstrate his irritation.

"Normally, nothing," Dani said. "But Isaac already has one engraved on his gauntlet, and a tattoo of one on his hand."

"Then why did he draw this one?" Alphonse said, easily picking up on her meaning.

She nodded. "Exactly." She leaned forward and set to work putting the debris back over the circle.

"Why are you covering it?" Edward inquired of her.

"We don't want him to know that we found it."

"You think he's coming back?" Alphonse asked.

Dani glanced over her shoulder at the Elrics for a brief moment before saying, "He drew this for a reason. It's only logical to assume that he'll come back for it."

"For what reason do you think he drew it?" Armstrong wondered.

She looked at the Major from the corner of her eye. He was watching her closely, probably trying to decipher what she was thinking. He had a habit of that. He was always staring at her, asking her questions, like he was trying to figure out how her brain worked. Actually, now that she thought about it, a lot of people did that. There weren't many people that Dani knew of that were able to follow her train of thought, Roy and Riza being the only ones. Truthfully, it was disconcerting.

Dani turned her attention back onto her work. "I don't know," she confessed. "But I have a feeling that it has something to do with why Isaac went to visit Solf at the prison."

"You sure know a lot," Edward observed.

She didn't say anything. Instead, she just rocked back onto her feet and stood up, dusting off her gloves as she stared down at her work. If she was remembering correctly, then she had managed to put the rubble back exactly as it had been before they moved it.

"What do you think we should do?" Armstrong asked, confident that she had a plan.

Dani turned to the three, her hands immediately going to her pockets. "Right now, there really isn't anything we _can_ do except wait for him to come back."

"And, when he does, we ambush him," Edward added.

Dani grinned, happy to know that someone else seemed to understand her tactics. "You two should wait on both sides of the alley so you can corner him," she suggested. "In the meantime, Armstrong and I will see to it that the guys on the street are kept busy."

She didn't bother waiting to see if the Elrics agreed to her plan before she motioned for the Major to follow her as she started back out of the alley.

Armstrong bowed briefly to the Elrics. "Good luck, Elrics," he said before he went to follow Dani.

"Wait," Edward called after them before they had gotten very far.

Dani stopped, but she didn't turn around. When the Major paused with her, she nodded for him to go on. He looked between her and the Elrics, seeming hesitant to leave her alone with them, as he must've sensed the distrust that Edward held toward her, but he had known Dani long enough to know that she could take care of herself. So he nodded in understanding and continued out onto the street.

She watched Armstrong for a moment before she turned to face the Elrics. "Yes?"

"Who are you?" Edward asked, his lips turned down into a frown.

Dani raised an eyebrow at the question. "I told you, I'm a friend—"

"A friend of the Colonel's," he interrupted her. "Yeah, I know. You said that already. But who are you? From what I can tell about the Colonel, he isn't the type to make friends with regular civilians, especially not some random teenager. And then there's the fact that the Major is so willing to go along with your plans like that. So, the way I see it, you're either someone important, or you work for the military."

For a moment, she just stared at him, soaking in the logic in Edward's observations. "Roy's right," she finally said in a thoughtful tone. "You really are too smart for your own good."

Edward glared. "Are you going to tell me or not?" he snapped.

"I will. Just not right now."

"Why not?"

"I'm still trying to decide if I like you."

Edward blinked, adopting a look of surprise at her response.

At his new expression, Dani allowed the grin that she had been fighting back to spread across her face. She then turned to continue her way out of the alley, her hand raised in farewell. "Be sure to keep a sharp eye out, you two," she called back to the brothers.

The Elrics watched the strange girl until she had disappeared from view, having turned the corner, presumably to go join the Major.

"What the hell is up with her?" Edward muttered.

"She must have her reasons for keeping her identity a secret from us," Alphonse said. "At any rate, the Major seems to trust her."

"Yeah, I guess." He shook his head, dispelling any thoughts about the strange girl from his mind. He needed to focus on the task at hand: catching Isaac. He motioned at his brother as he started to move towards the mouth of the alley, where the girl had just disappeared. "Come on, Al. Let's get into position."

* * *

Dani and Armstrong managed to keep everyone busy by sending the soldiers on wild goose chases all throughout the city. It was common knowledge amongst the military that Dani could locate any alchemist that was in the same general vicinity. No one knew how she did it. Even Dani was sort of iffy about it. All that she knew was that it was one of the many tricks that everyone born within the Baldric bloodline had up their sleeves.

Dani stood in the middle of the street, her arms crossed, feeling quite proud of herself.

"How much longer do you think it will be before he makes a move?" Armstrong asked, standing at her side with his arms behind his back.

She opened her mouth to answer when a sudden electric jolt rushed through her. She turned toward the alley that she had felt it from, the same alley that Armstrong had attacked Isaac in, and watched as a pillar of red alchemical light shot up into the sky, quickly joined by several other pillars from different areas of the city.

"Apparently, not long at all," Dani muttered.

"But how…?" Armstrong gasped. "An alchemical reaction on this scale…"

Before Dani could give her theory, the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees. Knowing that Isaac was about to begin his attack, Dani looked to the pillars of light, making a mental note of where each of them were. It wasn't until she had created a map in her head with a marker at each location that she realized what Isaac was planning to do.

"Armstrong, go make sure that the Elrics are all right," she instructed him.

"What are you going to do?"

"Isaac has several transmutation circles placed throughout the city. He needs them all intact if his plan is going to work."

Armstrong nodded, realizing what she was planning. "Be careful," he urged her.

She grinned mischievously. "Come on, Major. When am I ever careful?"

He shook his head in amusement before he turned away, running to the Elrics' aid. As soon as he was gone, Dani took off towards the nearest circle.

* * *

It had been a long time since Dani had seen so much action. Roy tended to keep her missions mild, whenever he would give her one that was not for reconnaissance, so that there was no danger of her getting hurt. That didn't mean that things didn't sometimes go sour. Still, she had never been in a situation like this before and, if she were honest, she kind of enjoyed it.

She hurried into one of the alleys that she had marked on her mental map.

Just on the street, there was a brigade of military personnel trying to keep the ice wall that had, at some point, sprouted at bay using dynamite, but she knew it wouldn't do much good. She had to destroy the circle before any more people got hurt.

But, apparently, that was going to take longer than she thought.

There was a pillar of ice over the circle, protecting it. She could use her alchemy to melt it, but she had a feeling that it would take too long. She needed to find another way.

"What do you think of my flames now, you bastard?"

Dani turned at the familiar voice, an idea quickly forming in her head. She ran back out of the alley to find Roy standing in front of the brigade, his flames having melted away a pretty good portion of the mountain of ice, although it was quickly reforming. He was soaked, something which Dani found hilarious, but she would have to make fun of him for it later. Right now, she needed him.

"If you're done throwing a hissy fit," she called out, "I could use your help over here."

Roy turned to her with an irritable frown. "And where have you been?"

"Getting to know your boys. Now, come on."

He followed her into the alley, where the pillar of ice stood. He didn't even bother to ask what she had planned. It was pretty obvious what she needed him for. He spread his feet slightly in that familiar stance and snapped his fingers on both hands, creating a monstrous wave of flame which consumed the ice within seconds.

"Go! Now!" Roy ordered as soon as the flames had formed.

Dani ran towards the flames, stopping just on the edge. She waited until they died out before she dropped to one knee. The ice was already starting to reform over the transmutation circle, meaning that she didn't have much time. So she reared back her left arm and slammed it into the concrete, ignoring the painful vibrations that traveled up her arm to her shoulder. The concrete cracked under her fist, breaking the energy of the circle.

She gave a sigh of relief as the alchemical light flickered out of existence.

* * *

Dani stood by the window in Roy's office, staring out at the courtyard, where she could see a few personnel walking around. She was dressed in a pair of tan trousers and a short-sleeved white shirt under a black jacket. On the back was the same Flame Alchemy transmutation circle that Roy had on his gloves.

"How's your arm?" Roy asked.

She glanced over at Roy, sitting behind his desk, before turning her gaze on her left arm. Only her hand was visible now, and, since she had yet to put on her gloves, she could see the smooth metal that replaced her flesh. She curled the metal fingers into a loose fist, her hand clanging slightly with the movement.

"The vibrations knocked a few screws loose. Other than that, I'm fine," she assured him. "Nothing that a screwdriver wasn't able to fix."

"And your shoulder?" Riza joined in.

"A little sore," Dani admitted. "But it should be fine."

"Still, I want you to take it easy," Roy said. "I don't want you injuring yourself any further."

Dani rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness. "Yes, father," she said as she turned away from the window. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her gloves. She slipped them on as she started heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"The hospital to visit your protege," she replied. "I saw Armstrong walking by a minute ago with a bouquet of roses. I don't think Edward could survive one of his healing sessions, no matter how strong he is."

Roy stood up and turned to Riza, who stood by the wall behind him, as usual. She seemed to know already what he was going to ask for, as she pulled a manila envelope from the top of her clipboard and handed it to him.

He walked around his desk and held it out for Dani to take. "Here, take this with you."

Dani took the envelope from Roy's hand, frowning curiously. "What's this?"

"You said you like them, right?"

A look of understanding passed over Dani's eyes, and the corners of her lips turned up into a grin. "Thank you, Roy."

"Just don't make me regret it," he warned her.

She nodded enthusiastically, still grinning broadly. "Yes, sir."

* * *

When Dani arrived at Edward's room in the hospital, she could already hear yelling from inside. It didn't take her long to recognize the scream as having come from Edward.

She opened the door, half dreading what she would find, only to be met with the sight of the Major striking poses next to Edward's bed. While normally Dani would find this disturbing, considering the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt, she was too busy being amused by the look of distress on Edward's face. She settled into the doorway to watch for a few more moments, her arms crossed, the manila envelope that Roy had given her hanging loosely from her gloved fingers.

"Would you get out?" Edward finally shouted, having taken as much as he could.

Dani decided to take pity on him and spoke up. "All right, Armstrong, I think he's had enough," she said.

The commotion died down quickly at her command, as everyone turned to look at her.

"You…" Edward said, staring at her in surprise.

Dani grinned and pushed away from the door frame to step further into the room, moving to stand with Armstrong at Edward's bedside. "Hey," she greeted him lightly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," he replied a little tensely. "Just a few cuts and bruises."

"That's good to hear."

There was a short silence, as Edward stared at her with an increasingly tense expression. Dani just returned his gaze for a moment, before deciding that it was time to give him the answers that he had been wanting since yesterday.

Dani turned to Armstrong and asked, "Would you mind giving us a minute?"

"Not at all," the Major replied.

"Thanks."

He nodded, giving her a look that clearly said "good luck," as he grabbed his previously discarded jacket. He left the room without another word, closing the door behind him.

Dani sighed lightly, resigning herself to face Edward's inevitable inquires. She turned to face said Elric, whose tense gaze hadn't wavered in the slightest. Meanwhile, the other Elric, Dani realized, stood awkwardly to the side, looking between them as if he expected them to jump at each other's throats at any minute.

"After everything with Isaac, I never got the chance to introduce myself. So…" Dani trailed off as she held out her hand, smiling. "My name is Danielle Baldric, but everyone calls me Dani. It's a pleasure to meet you, Edward."

Edward stared at her hand apprehensively before taking it. Dani's grin widened when he did, glad to see that he didn't completely distrust her. He noticed this and quickly took back his hand, so that he could cross his arms over his chest in a stubborn manner.

Unperturbed by this, Dani turned to extend her hand to the youngest Elric. "You too, Alphonse."

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you," Alphonse said as he accepted her hand, and he did so much more easily than his brother had.

Dani smiled up at him before turning back to Edward, this time holding out the envelope.

Edward blinked down at it questioningly before taking it. "What's this?" he asked.

"The other half of my introduction," Dani replied vaguely.

He glanced up at her, annoyed by her apparent inability to give straight answers, before breaking the seal on the envelope. He pulled out a piece of parchment, tossing the envelope onto the edge of his bed. He held the paper in front of him as he read from it. "'I, Colonel Roy Mustang, hereby appoint Danielle Baldric, otherwise known as the Pure Alchemist, as the associate of Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric…'" He trailed off, looking up at Dani in shock.

"You're a State Alchemist?" Alphonse gasped, just as surprised as his brother.

"Sort of," Dani said.

"What do you mean, sort of?" Edward demanded.

"I have the title, but I'm not certified."

"Then how did you get the title?" Alphonse asked, confused.

"Because I took the exams, although unofficially," Dani explained. "After that, the Fuhrer decided that I'd make a good State Alchemist and so gave me the title."

"Gave it to you?" Edward repeated incredulously.

Dani nodded, and she made no further attempt to expound on her situation with the Fuhrer. Instead, she went on to say, "Anyway, up until this point, I've been doing mainly reconnaissance missions for Roy, and occasionally for Maes and his department."

"And now you're being appointed as my partner," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Roy has told me a lot about you and your cause," she said. "You're looking for the Philosopher's Stone, right? I want to help."

Edward tossed the paper onto his bedside table. "Thanks, but we don't need any help."

"Regardless of whether or not you need it, I'm offering it to you. You only need to decide whether or not you want to accept it."

His lips turned down into a contemplative frown as he leaned back on his pillow, watching Dani, taking in everything that she had said and analyzing it. After a long moment, he asked, "Why do you want to help us? What do you get out of it?"

Dani shrugged. "Well, for one thing, going off with you guys will get me away from Roy. While I always enjoy bugging him, his reactions are getting kind of boring."

"And the other thing?" he asked, his tone suggesting that he did not accept her first answer.

She smiled mysteriously. "Personal reasons."

Edward frowned, obviously not satisfied with the answer.

Dani took that as her cue to leave, before Edward could really start hounding her. She waved her hand briefly in the air as she headed for the door. "I'll see you at the train station tomorrow," she said before stepping outside, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Dani stood in the loading area of the Central train station, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her Flame Alchemy jacket. She was finally dressed in her usual mission clothes, which consisted of a white tank top and black trousers held up by a pair of thin brown belts worn parallel to each other. The chain of her State Alchemist pocket watch, which she only ever wore on away missions, was affixed to the two belts.

"Dani!"

She turned to the already familiar voice and saw Alphonse and Edward Elric walking towards her, the latter of the two looking a little reluctant as he practically dragged his luggage behind him. But at least he didn't seem as mistrusting as he before.

"You're here," Alphonse pointed out, surprised.

"Of course I am," Dani replied. "I told you I would be, didn't I?"

"Honestly, we thought you would bail," Edward admitted.

Dani held up an index finger in indication. "One thing you'll soon learn about me: If I say that I'm going to do something, then you can be sure that I will see it through, no matter the cost."

Edward scoffed. "You sound like we've already given you the okay to come with us."

The corners of Dani's lips twitched as she struggled not to smile. "You're right," she amended. "I'm being presumptuous." She turned to Edward fully, giving him her complete attention. "So what is it going to be? Am I going to be able to use my ticket to Reole, or will I be giving it away to that couple over there for them to exchange?"

Both Elrics looked over as Dani indicated a young couple saying their tearful goodbyes. While she had been waiting for the Elrics to arrive, Dani had noticed the woman crying. She discovered that the man was going away for business. They weren't able to afford a ticket for the woman to join him, so she was being forced to stay behind.

Edward rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. "We spent all day after you left talking it over," he said. "Against my better judgment, I let Al talk me into letting you join us." Before Dani could smile at his decision, he pointed at her, saying, "But this is only an experiment. If you cause us too much trouble, Al and I will be going after the next clue on our own."

Dani nodded, grinning. "Fair enough."

He stared at her for a brief moment before he motioned for her to follow him as he turned towards the train. "Let's get going."

"Actually, I'm going to need a moment," Dani said.

Edward turned to ask what she was talking about, but she had already run off towards the couple. He and Alphonse exchanged looks as they watched her approach them and give them what looked like a ticket. The couple stared at the ticket in shock as the man accepted it. The woman bent down and hugged Dani gratefully. Dani returned it briefly before the woman released her, and she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as the couple thanked her.

"She's definitely a strange girl, isn't she, brother?" Alphonse said, impressed with her kindness.

"Yeah…" Edward muttered.


	2. The Trials Begin

**Chapter Two: The Trials Begin**

It took almost a day to reach Reole. By the time train pulled into the station, they were exhausted and hungry. So, as soon as they were off, they went in search of a place to eat. It didn't take long to find the outside bar that they sat at now.

While Edward dug into his plate, Dani sat thoughtfully, listening to the voice broadcasting over a local radio station. She noticed that there was an echo coming from every direction, which meant that everyone in the entire city had tuned in to listen to this man. Before she asked Roy for the new assignment, she had looked into why the Elrics were going to Reole and had learned about a local priest named Cornello. Apparently, he was capable of performing miracles. He could create things out of nothing.

"So what are you guys? Street performers or something?"

Dani jerked out of her thoughts at the sound of the bartender's voice, and she smirked as Edward spat out his drink to glare at the man.

"Seriously? Do we look like street performers to you?" he snapped.

"Well, yeah," the man admitted. "It's why I asked."

A vein in Edward's forehead started to pulse in irritation, and Dani grinned behind her hand. She could already tell that she was going to enjoy traveling with the Elrics.

After he had calmed down, Edward dropped down from his stool. "Let's go," he grumbled.

Dani spun around in her stool and hopped down obediently while Alphonse stood, and she watched blankly as his head hit the top of the bar, causing the radio which sat precariously above them went crashing to the floor and broke into pieces.

"Hey! Easy! I didn't mean anything by it!" the bartender cried.

"Sorry, accident!" Edward apologized. "We'll fix it."

"How's that? It's smashed to hell!"

"Watch and learn, gramps."

Dani and Edward both leaned against the bar as Alphonse pulled a piece of chalk from his armor, and he drew a transmutation circle around the radio before he stood up to his full height. He crossed his hands over the circle, preparing to fix it. At this point, a group of passersby had gathered around to see what was going on.

"Okay, here it goes," Alphonse muttered.

An alchemical light lit the area before it flashed into nonexistence, and the radio was in one piece.

"There, see?" Edward said. "How's that?"

"Amazing!" the bartender gasped. "It's a miracle! You've been touched by the Sun God, just like Father Cornello!"

Edward deflated slightly. "Touched by who now?"

"It's not a miracle," Alphonse assured the man. "It's alchemy."

"Oh, so you're alchemists. Right, I've heard of them," one of the men who had gathered said.

Dani rolled her eyes when Edward crossed his arms, suddenly very proud. It seemed that the eldest Elric and Roy had more in common than either of them realized. Not only were they both powerful alchemists, but they both knew it, and they flaunted it.

"Then maybe you've heard of us. We're the Elric brothers!" Edward bragged.

"The Elric brothers, you say…" the man mumbled thoughtfully.

"Wait, I _do_ know that name!" another exclaimed.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist! Edward Elric, is that right?" yet another said.

Edward chuckled to himself at the awe in their voices, apparently not noticing that the group had gathered around Alphonse. Dani didn't say anything. She just raised an eyebrow, wondering how long it would take for Edward to realize that they were fawning over his brother instead, and how he would react once he did.

"Wow, so you're the young prodigy they tell all the stories about?"

"Well, of course he is! Just look at that armor!"

"That must be how he got the name Fullmetal."

Alphonse raised his hands. "No, um, it's not me," he said.

The crowd paused for a second before they turned to look at Edward.

"What? You mean it's that little guy there?" one man said, skeptical that the short blonde boy was the infamous Fullmetal Alchemist.

That finally seemed to snap Edward out of his prideful haze, and he turned on the crowd in anger, throwing his and Dani's plates and empty glasses at them. "Who's little?" he was shouting. "Come here and say that to my face! I dare you!"

Dani watched the scene with her arms crossed, her amusement clearly reflected in her eyes.

"So what about you? Are you some famous alchemist too?" the bartender suddenly asked.

She turned to where the man stood next to her, watching her curiously. She smiled. "Oh, no. I am an alchemist, but I'm not famous," she replied.

They turned their attentions back on Edward, who had calmed down again, now that the men were cowering in fear at his reaction. Dani just smirked to herself. So Edward didn't appreciate being called short, or any variation of it. She would have to remember that.

Edward sighed heavily. "So, what's with this guy on the radio?"

"Th-that's our leader, Father Cornello," one of the men answered cautiously.

"We were lost until he came to town and began teaching us the ways of the Sun God Leto," said a second man.

"He grants eternal life to the souls of the faithful."

"He can even resurrect the dead! His miracles are proof that what he says is true!"

Dani raised an eyebrow at the reverence in their voices. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought that this Father Cornello was their god, not Leto.

"So this guy's claiming that he can bring the dead back to life?" Edward muttered to himself.

"That's something I'd like to see," Dani said.

* * *

The crowd cheered as pink flowers rained down upon them. A man stood outside of the elaborate church that had been erected in the center of town. He was fairly old, with a thick build and a bald head. So far, he had used his "miracle" to create these flowers out of thin air.

Dani stood at the very back of the crowd with the Elrics, the two shorter teenagers standing on top of their luggage so that they could see what was going on over the sea of heads. Edward observed the Father's performance with scrutiny while Dani just looked thoughtful, a gloved finger pressed to her lips.

Father Cornello caught one of the flowers in his hands, and he closed both of them around it. There was a flash of red light, and Dani felt a familiar jolt of electricity flow through her. It was the same jolt that she had felt back in Central City when Isaac McDougal had activated his attack. She gave a small frown at this observation, but continued to watch as the light dimmed. Suddenly, standing before the Father was a crystal statue standing upon a base of quartz, with two red blossoms with a group of smaller yellow stones in the center of them.

"So that's it, huh? What do you think?" Edward asked.

"There's nothing _to_ think," Alphonse replied. "That's alchemy. No doubt about it."

"But, somehow, he is ignoring the law of equivalent exchange. He should have only been able to transform that flower into an object of equal mass."

"And he's changing organic matter into inorganic matter. He shouldn't be able to do that."

As the brothers spoke, Dani's gaze zeroed in on a ring on Cornello's left hand. The band was gold, and the round stone centered on it was blood red. It wasn't like any crystal that she had seen before. Then again, she had never seen a Philosopher's Stone, at least not in person. The most that she had seen of it was drawings.

Alphonse turned to the newest addition to their group. "What do you think, Dani?"

At first, she didn't answer, her thoughts focused on the Father's ring and the reaction that she had felt when he had created that statue. It wasn't until a few seconds later that she seemed to realize that Alphonse had spoken to her, and she turned her gaze on him, an apologetic smile on her lips. "Sorry, did you say something, Alphonse?" she asked.

Both Elrics looked at her with curiosity.

"Are you all right?" Alphonse wondered.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking… Do you know if Isaac McDougal used a Philosopher's Stone during his attack on Central?"

"We think so," Edward replied, "but we weren't able to confirm it. Why?"

Dani shook her head. "It's nothing." She jumped down from her suitcase and picked it up before she started off down the street. "Come on," she called to the Elrics over her shoulder, "let's go find a hotel and wait out the rest of this gathering."

The brothers exchanged looks before Edward followed her example, and the two hurried after her.

* * *

It was a little over an hour before the crowd finally dispersed, and everyone went back to whatever it was that they had been doing beforehand. Edward decided that it was a good time as any to see if they couldn't get an audience with the Father, so they strolled into the church, where a young woman sat upon her knees before the altar. But Dani didn't pay her much mind, apart from her initial observation of her, her attention focused instead on the stone statue which stood behind the altar. It had to be at least seven hundred meters tall.

Dani let out a low whistle.

"Huh," Edward muttered. "So this is the almighty Leto?"

The woman looked back at them in surprise, apparently not having heard them enter the room. She got to her feet quickly. "Welcome," she greeted them. "Are you interested in Letoism?"

"Not really," Dani answered truthfully before she turned to Edward. "You?"

"Nope, can't say that I am," Edward answered. "Not really the religious type."

"Well, I am sorry to hear that," the woman said. "To know God is to…to know hope. If we believe in divine grace…then, through him, all things are possible. If you both believed, I'm sure that Leto would bless you and make you taller!" She sounded so sincere, but the comment only managed to anger Edward.

It at least made Dani laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?' Edward barked.

"Easy, brother," Alphonse tried to calm him down. "She's just trying to help."

He did calm down, realizing that his brother was right. He walked over to one of the benches and dropped down on it, crossing his legs and letting his arms rest on the back. "What about bringing the dead back to life?" he wondered. "Do you believe that's possible too?"

"Yes," the girl replied without missing a beat.

Edward sighed and pulled a small notebook from his jacket pocket. Dani tilted her head curiously as she watched him flip it open to one of the tabbed pages, and he started reading off the contents.

"Water: thirty-five liters, carbon: twenty kilograms, ammonia: four liters, lime: one-point-five kilograms, phosphorous: eight hundred grams, salt: two hundred forty; saltpeter: one hundred grams, and various other trace elements."

The woman just looked confused while Dani's face cleared in understanding.

Edward closed the notebook and leaned forward to rest his arms across his legs. "The list represents the complete chemical makeup of the human body for the average adult. It's been calculated to the last microgram, but still there's never been one reported case of successfully creating a human life. And you're telling me that, something modern science can't do, you can do with prayer?"

"'Lift thy voice to God and the prayer of the faithful shall be answered,'" the woman recited.

He threw his arms behind his head with a grin. "Did I mention, all those ingredients I just read off, down at the market, a kid could buy every one of them for the spare change in his pockets? As it turns out, humans are pretty cheap."

Dani raised an eyebrow at his casual tone but said nothing.

"No, that's blasphemy!" the woman gasped. "People are—we are all children of God…created in his image!"

Edward chuckled darkly. "You have to understand, alchemists are scientists. We don't believe in unprovable concepts, like creators or gods. We observe the physical laws that govern this world to try to learn the truth." He gazed up at the statue. "It's ironic, really—that, through the application of science, we have in many ways been given the power to play gods ourselves"

"So you're putting yourself on the same level as God? That's just…sheer arrogance!"

"You know, there's an old myth about a hero who flew on wings made of wax. He thought that he could touch the sun but, when he got too close, his wings melted and he came crashing back down to earth. Right, Al?"

"Brother…" Alphonse muttered.

Edward jumped to his feet, understanding that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the way that he was going on now. "I'm sorry, miss," he apologized. "This is difficult for me to ask, but do you think that your Father Cornello could even save an arrogant scientist like me?" With his words, he bowed mockingly.

The woman didn't take it that way. Instead, she seemed to light up. "Of course! That's wonderful! If anyone can lead you to the Creator's light, he can!"

* * *

Dani gazed around the halls as one of the church personnel led them through the halls of the church. The woman, Rose, followed behind them. She probably wanted to witness Edward's conversion.

The man stopped outside of a large pair of wooden doors which had the symbol of their Sun God engraved on it. There were two men standing guard outside, both of them wielding religious staffs in their hands like weapons.

"This way, please," the cleric said.

One of the guards opened the door, letting them through into the darkened room behind them, lit only by torches lining the wall. Dani raised an eyebrow at the area, curious as to what uses a church could have for such a room.

"Father Cornello is a busy man, as you can imagine," he explained to the three alchemists. "But you're lucky. He's decided to spare a moment for you."

"Yeah, thanks. We understand," Edward said. "We won't take too much of his time."

"Good, then it's agreed. We'll make this quick."

Dani tensed as the doors closed behind them definitively. She had a bad feeling about all this, and it was only verified when the cleric spun around and grabbed her. She blinked in shock as she was suddenly pulled against him, his arm wrapped around her neck. In his free hand was a pistol, which he had aimed at Alphonse's helmet. Meanwhile, the two men who had been playing guard blocked Edward from moving to aid them with their staffs.

"Brother Cray, what is this?" Rose gasped. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Rose, these heathens have come to ensnare and discredit the Father," the Brother replied. "They are evil. This is God's will."

"Brother Cray…"

"Well, like you said, let's make this quick," Edward snarled. He elbowed one of the guards in the stomach, knocking him on his back, and flipped the other over his shoulder, making sure that the man was unconscious before letting go.

Dani took this as a sign to act as well, and she grabbed hold of the arm wrapped around her neck. She ducked her head just enough for her to bite down on his arm as hard as she could. Cray howled and drew his arm back, allowing Dani to dance out of his grasp. At the same moment, Alphonse punched Cray in the nose. He fell to the ground, unconscious, and the gun slid from his hand over to Rose's feet.

Edward looked at Dani, dumbfounded. "Did you just bite him?"

"It was a spur of the moment thing," Dani replied nonchalantly.

Before Edward could make any further comments, the man whom he had elbowed got back to his feet and started running. Edward kicked one of the staffs towards him, directing it so that it became entangled with his legs, tripping him up. Dani blinked as the staff flew into the air and landed on the guy's head, knocking him out.

Edward grinned at his success. "Oh yeah! Strike!"

"What's this commotion?"

Dani turned towards the voice as Father Cornello stepped out of the shadows where he stood on a landing at the back of the room, where there was a pair of stairs leading to two separate rooms on either side.

"Ah, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Welcome to the home of our sacred order," he said in greeting.

"Father Cornello!" Rose cried happily at the sight of her priest.

The Father smiled at her before he turned his gaze back onto the alchemists. "I must apologize for my disciples' behavior. It would seem they've been misguided."

"Okay," Edward said, "let's say I believe you weren't the one guiding them. What next?"

"Have you come to learn the ways of Leto?"

He tilted his head. "Well, there are a few things I am curious about…like how you've been using second rate alchemy to deceive your followers."

Rose looked at Edward in silent surprise.

"My dear boy, I don't know what you mean," Father Cornello said. "What your doubting eyes see as alchemy are the miracles of the Sun God Leto." He raised his cupped hands, and the same light as before encased them while Dani tensed at the already familiar feeling of electricity which jolted her body. When Cornello pulled back his one hand, it was to reveal a small statue of the Sun God in his palm. "Look again. Could mere alchemy create something from nothing in this way?"

Edward rubbed the back of his head in thought. "Yeah, that's what I didn't get at first. How could you perform transmutations that ignore the law of equivalent exchange?"

Cornello slammed the statue down on the railing. "As I said, because it isn't alchemy!" he snapped.

"Then I started thinking about it…" he continued as if the man hadn't spoken. "If you'd somehow managed to obtain a certain object to amplify your alchemy, one that's said to make the impossible possible, that would explain everything."

The priest frowned. "What?"

"He's talking about your ring," Dani said, gaining Cornello's attention. She nodded to his left hand at his ring. "It's a Philosopher's Stone. That's how you've been able to perform all those so-called miracles."

"The ring is just a ring," the Father argued. "I am God's humble servant. It is from Him alone that I derive my power."

"Still trying to sell that line, huh?" Edward scoffed. "If that's the way you want to play it, I guess I will have to come up there and beat some truth out of you."

Cornello frowned. "My, you really are quite the incorrigible heathen, aren't you? Rose, dear."

Dani frowned as she once again got a bad feeling. She didn't like that sickly sweet tone that the Father had used. She knew from experience that tones like that tended to lead to dangerous things. Like getting shot at, she thought as she glanced over at the gun that had fallen from Cray's grasp before.

"Yes, Father?" Rose asked shakily. She was obviously frightened.

"The gun there beside you…pick it up," Cornello instructed her.

"Uh…okay…" She grabbed the gun as her beloved priest commanded.

"Now, child, I want you to shoot the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Dani turned to Rose quickly, her expression cautious, even as she mentally congratulated herself for being right. The woman stared at Cornello in horror at the command. At the moment, it looked as if she would refuse staunchly to shoot a living human being, but Dani could tell that they were going to be in trouble soon. After all, Rose seemed like the kind of follower who would do anything for her God.

"No, I…" Rose started to argue. "Father, I can't do that!"

"I am the Sun God's chosen emissary," Cornello said. "My word is the word of Leto himself." His lips turned up into a sick grin. "Shoot him, Rose. It's God's will."

Dani watched the woman carefully as she raised the gun obediently, but she didn't take aim. She instead held it to her chest. She was shaking horribly, fearful of what Cornello was asking her to do, but Dani could see her will wavering even now.

"Why hesitate?" Father Cornello asked. "When you lost your fiancée to that tragic accident last year, who was it that saved you from the very depths of despair? Have you forgotten?"

Tears were streaming down her face as Rose said, "It was you, Father…"

"That's right," he practically cooed. "It was I who took up your hand and led you into God's light. And do you recall what it was that I promised you then?"

"You said, if I had faith, you'd bring him back to life!" the woman cried. Suddenly, her decision was made, and she aimed the gun at Alphonse. Dani almost smirked when she realized that they thought that _he_ was the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Alphonse raised his hands anxiously. "No, wait! It's not me! Honest!" he cried.

Rose lowered the gun in surprise and looked to Edward, who immediately started throwing a fit. "Damn it, I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist!" he shouted. "It's not him! It's me!"

"It's the short one? You're kidding!" Cornello cried in shock.

Dani snickered, despite the seriousness of the situation.

Edward immediately turned on her, appearing all the more irritated. "Shut up!" he snapped. "It's not like you're much taller!"

Rose turned the gun on Edward now, cutting his tantrum short and causing Dani to fall silent, her expression suddenly very stern. It wasn't often that she got like that, but she hadn't been in many situations where someone was threatening the life of her friends.

"I'm sorry," Rose apologized as she trembled, "but I have to do this. I don't have any choice."

"He's been lying to you, Rose," Edward tried to reason with her, but she wasn't having it.

"You're wrong!" she cried. "I've seen his miracles! Father Cornello will bring him back to life! I have faith!"

He glared at her, quickly becoming irritated by the blind faith that she had in the man. If she were honest, Dani was running out of patience herself. "Fine. Then shoot," he grunted, challenging her to follow through with it.

Rose shrank back at his glare, and she pulled the gun back to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut as she seemed to psych herself up for what she felt like she had to do. Dani saw the exact moment when her finger began to tighten around the trigger, and she moved quickly. She appeared at Rose's side just before she pulled the trigger, and she forced her hand to the side at the same time that the gun fired. Instead of hitting Edward as it would have had Dani not interfered, the bullet went flying at Alphonse.

The younger Elric cried out as he fell back, his helmet flying away from his armor.

"Al!" Edward called worriedly.

Dani ran to Alphonse's side, and she quickly fell to one knee by his armored body while Edward went to where his helmet had fallen. "You okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah…" Alphonse's replied quietly.

She sighed in relief.

Rose let out a terrified scream at what she had done, and the gun fell from her fingers.

"Good. God Leto is pleased," Cornello purred. "You have done well, my child. Now, pick up the gun and shoot the other two as well."

Alphonse sat up. "Haven't you made her do enough already?"

The Father gasped in shock as Dani helped Alphonse to his feet while Edward stood, holding his brother's helmet.

"But…your head!" Rose squeaked. "I thought you were…"

"Don't worry about it," Edward said. "He's pretty solid." As if to prove his point, he knocked on Alphonse's armored stomach.

"Yeah, see? No harm done," Alphonse assured her as he leaned forward to show the woman that his armor was empty.

Rose put her hand to her mouth in horror and watched, terrified, as Alphonse took his helmet from Edward and returned it to his shoulders.

"An empty suit of armor that walks and speaks?" Cornello said. "Do you still doubt it, Rose? This unholy thing is an abomination!" He backed up to the far wall where there was a large switch that Dani hadn't noticed until now. "Evil of this kind must be purged!" He pulled the switch, and Dani tensed in preparation as she heard something opening.

There was an animalistic growling from the shadows to the right, and Dani watched as a chimera stepped into the torchlight. It had the head and torso of a lion, the hindquarters of a chicken, and the tail of a lizard. She blinked as Alphonse suddenly stepped out in front of her, blocking her view of the creature. If it had been anyone else who had done it, Dani would've been surprised by this act of protectiveness, but she had discovered from her observations of him so far that Alphonse was the chivalrous type. He wouldn't think twice before he threw himself into the path of danger in order to protect someone. While most girls would take it as an insult, Dani thought it was sweet.

"And I believe my chimera should be up to the task," Father Cornell chuckled.

"So this is the sort of thing you do with the Philosopher's Stone," Edward said. "That's twisted." He shrugged. "Anyway, looks like I'll need a weapon." He clapped his hands together before he knelt and placed his hands on the ground. An alchemical light surrounded him, and he stood up as a metal spear formed from the stone floor.

Cornello looked shocked. "No transmutation circle? So the State Alchemist title isn't just for show. You truly are gifted." He grinned. "However…"

The chimera roared and turned on Edward, who raised his spear in front of him protectively as the beast swiped its claws at him. It cut through the spear easily, and Dani worried for a moment that Edward had been injured when its claws also cut through the fabric of his pants, but relaxed when she saw the metal through the tears.

"Your little spear is no match for chimera claws that tear through iron!"

"You shredded my pants," Edward said as he smirked up at the chimera, watching at the creature's claws broke off, leaving nothing but stubs. He took advantage of the chimera's moment of surprise to throw out his left leg, and he kicked the chimera in its chest, sending it flying to the other side of the room. "But I guess those claws don't do so well against steel."

"Bite him, you stupid beast!" Cornello snapped.

The chimera quickly got back to its feet and charged at Edward. It opened its mouth in a roar, and it was about to bite down on Edward's shoulder when he raised his right arm. This time, Dani didn't worry when the creature snapped its jaws around it.

"You like that, kitty?" Edward growled. "Go on, get a good taste!" He threw up his automail leg, forcing the chimera to release him before it fell on its back. When it did, his jacket sleeve tore off.

Cornello stared in wonder at the prosthetic in place of Edward's arm. "Your arm…" he muttered. "A brother trapped in armor…" He gave another depraved grin as he finally put the pieces together. "I see. It's all becoming clear now. You did it, didn't you? The one thing even the most novice alchemist knows is strictly forbidden!"

Edward pulled off his jacket, revealing the full extent of his prosthetic. The fingers of Dani's own steel hand curled into a fist as she took in the sight of it, her gaze trailing over the scars which she could just barely see underneath the part of the prosthetic that extended over his right pectoral.

"Why don't you come down here and try me?" Edward called up to the Father. "I'll show you real quick who the novice is."

"Rose, this is the price of their sins," Cornello said. "These fools attempted human transmutation, the greatest taboo for any alchemist. In their arrogance, they tried to bring someone dead back to life."

"Oh no…" Rose gasped.

"This is what happens when you try to play God, or whatever you want to call it," Edward said. "Take a good look, Rose. Is this what you want?"

"So this is the great Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric," Cornello taunted. "Not even half a man. Hell, not even half a boy!" He cackled, and Dani's eyebrow ticked at the sound, although she said nothing in her partner's defense.

"And what are you? You're just a phony who can't do anything without a Philosopher's Stone!"

"Father, we just want you to hand over the Stone before you get hurt," Alphonse called.

"Don't be absurd!" Cornello scoffed. "Why? So you can use it for yourself? Please. If you fools are really so eager to play God, then perhaps I should send you to go meet him instead!" With that, he used the Stone to turn his cane into a rapid fire machine gun.

Edward summoned a stone wall in front of everyone as Cornello opened fire. "Nah, me and God, we don't get along too well," he said. "Even if I went, he'd probably just send me right back."

"Time to go!" Dani called as she spun around, and she took off towards the exit.

Alphonse picked up Rose without any warning and followed her. They both came sliding to a stop, however, when Cornello started firing at his back, and Rose screamed as she covered her head.

"This way!" Edward shouted as he clapped his hands again. He slammed them into the wall behind him, and a large stone door appeared next to the wooden one that they had come through. He threw the doors open with a flourish, no doubt knocking into whatever clerics had been stationed outside.

Dani followed the Elrics out of the room and down the hall.

"Don't just stand there!" Cornello's voice sounded from behind them. "After them! These heathens seek to harm the order! They must be stopped!"

When the group reached the end of the hall, they found themselves faced with a group of men who dared to stand in their path. One was actually holding a gun, while another held the same kind of staff that the clerics from before had wielded.

"That's far enough," the man with the staff said.

"What're you going to do now?" the gunman sneered. "You're unarmed and outnumbered."

"Look, just come quietly. We don't want to have to rough you up."

Edward stared at them curiously for a moment before he suddenly started grinning to himself. Dani threw him a dubious look as he started to laugh, as if they had just told him the greatest joke in the world. He clapped his hands together again and used his alchemy to turn his automail arm into an elaborate sword. His expression quickly transformed into one of dark amusement.

The men screamed in fear as he used the blunt edge of his sword to knock them away.

Dani shook her head at Edward's antics as they took off once again.

"Don't go easy just because they are kids!" another voice shouted from around a corner. "You got that?"

They turned the corner where Dani had heard the voice, and Alphonse rammed through another group of clerics to clear their path as they continued to make their way out of the church, Edward laughing the entire way.

* * *

Dani soon found herself standing up in the bell tower along with Alphonse and Rose. Edward had come up with a plan to expose the Father for who he truly was, so she and Alphonse were working to hook the bell to a sound system, which Alphonse had created with his alchemy. They were going to use it to amplify whatever conversation that Edward was going to have with Cornello, to ensure that everyone in the city heard what he had to say.

"What do you think of Cornello now, Rose?" Alphonse wondered. "He just opened fire. He didn't care that you were in the way.

"Th-that's because…" The woman fell silent, realizing that she had no real response. Instead, she asked, "What he said back there is true, isn't it?"

He paused in his work. "We're not evil," he muttered. "All we wanted was to see our mom's smile again. But our transmutation failed. What we made wasn't even human."

Dani looked up at Alphonse from beneath her lashes.

"We learned our mistake the hard way. People don't come back from the dead. Not ever."

"That's not true," Rose argued. "I mean…"

"Alchemy is based on the law of equivalent exchange. The price of a failed human transmutation was enormous. It cost my brother his left leg, and it cost me my body." He removed his helmet to show them the blood rune that kept his soul bound to the armor. "Do you see it? My brother drew that with his own blood. His leg had been taken and he was bleeding. I can't imagine the pain that he was in. But, through all that, he still gave up his right arm to transmute my soul and bonded me to this suit of armor." He returned his helmet to his shoulders and went back to work. "Now, I just want to help him get his body back the way it was. He wants to find a way to get me back to normal too. It won't be easy. We might even get killed along the way. But that's the path we chose. All we can do is keep moving."

"But…Father Cornello said…"

Dani glanced up again at her quivering voice.

"He said he could do it… He promised me… Just because you and your brother failed, it doesn't mean… It doesn't mean he will!" she cried.

"It doesn't matter what kind of powers he claims to possess," Dani said.

Rose and Alphonse turned their gazes on her, surprised that she had even spoken. She hadn't said much since they had left the church. Alphonse had assumed that she was just shocked by his and Edward's past. But, then again, she hadn't seemed all that curious about it.

"There is no way to bring someone back to life," she continued, "no matter how much power you have. Everything in the universe follows a certain pattern, a certain flow. Death is a part of it. You have to accept that, no matter how hard it might be at times. Trying to go against the flow is not something to be taken lightly, and it's not something that can be done easily. There will always be consequences for trying to disrupt the cycle."

Rose looked disheartened after her speech, while Alphonse stared at her in surprise. That sounded exactly like something that Teacher would say. He wondered if she had any experience with death and its affects. She must have for her to understand it like she did.

* * *

When they heard the feedback, they took that as a sign that things were about to start, so Alphonse grabbed the bell turned megaphone and moved over to the railing. He stood with one leg braced against the rails while he balanced the amplifier on his shoulder so that it was pointed out towards the city.

"There you are, you infernal brat!" Cornello's voice echoed loudly.

"Look, can we just cut the crap and talk here?" Edward requested, sounding exhausted. "All I want are some straight answers about the Stone. Tell me what I need to know and I'll be on my way. Or we could get the military involved."

There was a pause before a door was closed.

"Ask your questions," Cornello said.

"You could do anything with the Philosopher's Stone, right?" Edward asked. "So why waste that power performing phony miracles?"

"Because with each miracle I can attract new believers to the order, believers who would lay down their lives for my sake. I'm slowly building an army, a legion of holy warriors, unafraid to die! In just a few more years, I'll be ready to unleash this mindless horde upon the world, and I'll use the Philosopher's Stone to tear this country apart! Who knows? I might even carve out a slice for you!"

As Cornello cackled, Edward joined in with his own childish laughter.

"Wait, what are you laughing about?" Father Cornello asked.

"I knew it," Edward snickered. "You really are a novice, aren't you?"

There was a moment's pause.

"You don't mean that…!" Cornello shouted fearfully.

"There were never any miracles, Rose," Alphonse said to the woman, who was looking now as if she had just been slapped. "He lied to you. He lied to everyone."

"Why you…! How long? How long has that been on?"

"From the start," Edward replied casually. "Your believers heard every word."

"How could you? You'll pay dearly for this!"

The speakers cut off, throwing the city into silence.

* * *

Dani stood with the Elrics outside of the church a few hours later. Edward had just finished telling them about what had gone down inside with Father Cornello after the sound system had been shut off. Apparently, the Stone had caused a rebound, but the priest hadn't let it stop him. Edward said that he had used the Stone's power to transmute himself into this large, hunkering form, but he had defeated him using the "fist of God," as he had put it.

"What about the Stone?" Alphonse asked.

"A phony, just like him," Edward sighed.

"Oh…"

Edward knocked his fist against Alphonse's armor. "I'm sorry, Al. For a while there, I thought we had really found a way to get your body back."

"Give me the Philosopher's Stone!" a familiar voice shouted from behind them.

Dani turned to where Rose now stood at the top of the stairs. She had Cray's gun in her hand again and was aiming it at her and the Elrics. She had a look of pure desperation about her. Dani sighed in disappointment. It seemed that her speech about the cycle of the world hadn't worked to make Rose see the reality. She was _not_ going to get her fiancée back, no matter how much she prayed or how much faith she had. He was gone, for good. She needed to move on. But she was too desperate to see that, apparently.

"Rose…" Alphonse said, sounding just as disappointed.

"Like I was just saying, it was a fake," Edward said. "It wasn't real. And, besides, it's shattered."

"Liar! You want to keep it for yourself, don't you?" Rose accused him. "So that you can use it to on your bodies! And so you can try to bring your mother back again!"

"You shut up!"

Rose gasped at his sudden outburst.

"People don't come back from the dead, Rose," he said in a much calmer voice. "Not ever."

Dani looked at him from the corner of her eye. His head was hanging past his shoulders. She could practically see his thoughts of his mother going through his head. Her eyes narrowed sadly as she noticed an almost indiscernible tremor in his shoulders before she quickly turned her gaze back on Rose, in case Edward looked up. She didn't want him seeing her pitying him like that. It wasn't what he needed.

Rose had sunk down to her hands and knees, and there were tears streaming down her face. "But he promised me…" she was saying to herself. "He said, if I prayed, it would happen. A miracle…"

"Come on," Edward muttered to his brother and Dani before he started towards the stairs, deciding that it was best to leave the woman to herself.

Alphonse and Dani followed behind him, neither one throwing Rose a glance as they walked by.

"That hope was all I had left!" Rose cried after them. "What am I supposed to believe in now? Tell me what to do…please…"

Edward paused while Dani and Alphonse continued past him. "I can't tell you that," he said. "You have to figure it out for yourself. Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You've got two good legs, so use them. You're strong enough to make our own path."

* * *

Later that night, they were back on the train, heading to East City. There was a comfortable silence between them as Dani and Edward stared out of their respective windows, watching as the scenery flew by. The brothers were sat on the bench opposite Dani, leaving her the whole bench to herself. She had a feeling that this was how it was going to be until they got used to having her around. Not that she minded much. As much as she liked being around people, she liked her space too.

"All right, let's get it over with."

Dani tore her gaze from the scenery to look across at Edward, who was leaning forward in his seat, his eyes fixed on her face. "What?" she asked.

"I know you have questions about what you heard today. So let's have it."

Her face cleared as she realized what he was talking about. "Oh, that. I'm good."

Edward blinked, obviously not having expected that. "What do you mean, you're good?"

"You're not curious?" Alphonse asked.

"Honestly, what you guys let slip back there wasn't anything I didn't already know," she admitted.

Edward frowned. "What? How did you…?" His own face cleared suddenly as he came to his own realization. "Did the Colonel tell you?"

"Not for a long time," she said. "He didn't think it was right to tell me about your history, since it really wasn't any of my business. But I wore him down after a while. He told me about everything that happened to you, everything about that night."

"That's why you wanted to come with us."

"Partially."

Edward frowned, obviously not liking that answer. He then scoffed as he sat up straight. "You're still being secretive, huh?" he said in a forced casual tone. "Are you ever going to tell us why you want to help us so much?"

"Yes," Dani replied.

"Any time soon?"

"Probably not."

"Then when?" he almost snapped, quickly becoming irritated again.

"When the time is right."

He scoffed again and slumped back in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked back out of the window. "Yeah, right…" he grumbled.

Dani winked at Alphonse, who had been snickering silently throughout the whole exchange.

* * *

Dani stared at Edward, who had slumped further into his seat and was now fast asleep, with his head leaning against the window. She wondered how he could sleep like that. She imagined it was not very comfortable.

"He can fall asleep anywhere, huh?" she asked.

"Pretty much," Alphonse said.

Dani turned her gaze on the boy. "Are _you_ able to sleep?" she wondered.

Alphonse tilted his head slightly but did not say anything.

"I know you're pretty much just a soul, but I figured that a soul would need rest while it's bound to a body, metal or not."

"No, I don't."

"What about your senses? You can hear and see, but can you feel as well?"

"No, I can't feel anything," he replied in a dejected tone.

Dani hummed thoughtfully for a moment before she leaned forward. "This is going to sound really weird, but…can I hold your hand?" At his stare, she quickly added, "I promise, it's just to satisfy my curiosity."

"Uh, sure…"

She scooted forward and held out her hand. Alphonse placed his hand in hers, and she curled her fingers around his. It felt solid, like there was actually a hand in the glove attached to the armored wrist. She looked up at him as she squeezed his ghostly fingers. "So you can't feel this?" she asked just to have it said aloud.

He shook his head. "No."

"Okay…" Dani cupped his hand between hers and closed her eyes.

Alphonse watched her closely, curious as to what she was doing. A few moments passed, and she hadn't moved a muscle. It was almost like she had fallen asleep like that. He had started to become worried when he felt it—the warmth. There was a warmth growing in his hand.

He gasped.

Dani opened her eyes at the sound, and Alphonse was disappointed when the warmth disappeared.

"Could you feel that?" Dani asked.

He nodded minutely. "How did you…?"

She smiled slightly. "I'm not sure. It's something everyone in my family is able to do."

"And you don't know how you're able to do it?"

"Not a clue," she admitted. "My father said it had something to do with our ancestors, but he never explained it. I figure that something happened to someone in our family, and now we are somehow connected to the Gate."

"Strange," Alphonse muttered.

Dani shrugged. "Anyway, now we know it will work on you, I'm sure it's weird not being able to feel anything anymore. So, any time that you want to feel something, just tell me and I'll see what I can do."

He perked up at that. "Really?"

She grinned at his excited tone. "Yup! I'll be your outer parietal lobe."

Alphonse nodded enthusiastically. "Okay! Thank you."

Dani waved off his thanks. "No need to thank me. I live to please."

A silence fell between the two of them, and Dani turned back to gaze out of her window. After just a few seconds, she noticed Alphonse shifting anxiously in his seat. She looked at him, but he was staring at the floor, refusing to meet her gaze.

"…Could you hold my hand a little longer?" he finally asked after a few more seconds.

Dani smiled kindly. "Sure." She reached out her hand again, and Alphonse hurriedly placed his in her palm. He relaxed as he began to feel the warmth of her gloved hand along with the pressure of her fingers wrapped around his.


	3. Hidden Tears

**Author's Note**

 _Perminatly Lost In Thought:_ Thanks! I'm glad you like the story so far :) And, I can assure you, this will definitely be a slow burning story. I have every chapter planned out already, and romance doesn't really come into play until at least chapter 35.

 _Ed's Curious Kitten:_ Thanks! I'm glad you like it so far :)

 _Kuroi inazuma:_ I'm always a little self-conscious when it comes to the actual writing part of fan fiction, so thank you :)

 **Chapter Three: Hidden Tears**

Dani was relieved when they finally arrived at East City. It had been a while since she had been home. She had been spending the past few weeks (almost a month, actually) at Central with Roy. Now, he was back at his offices up in East HQ, which meant that she would be able to sleep in her own bed! As much as she loved to travel, she always ended up missing her room. That was where all of her stuff was, after all—the stuff that she had inherited from her family.

After they had stopped to drop off the Elrics' stuff at the hotel, they headed to headquarters. They had to report to Roy on their mission before they could get started on a new lead for the Stone.

None of Roy's men seemed to notice when they walked in; they were too engrossed in their work. Not that Dani blamed them. Roy always tended to give them truckloads of paperwork to complete, most of which tended to be his own. For someone who wanted to become Fuhrer one day, he sure was lazy. Granted, Roy's tactics for moving up the ladder tended to be pretty underhanded.

Dani threw Alphonse a grateful smile as he set her suitcase by the door (he had insisted on carrying it for her) before they approached the line of desks. Dani crossed her arms and watched the officers in amusement, wondering how long it would take before they realized that they weren't alone.

"Master Sergeant Fuery, how is the radio coming?" Riza asked.

"The receiver on this thing has seen better days," Kain muttered as he fiddled with the old radio. "I think I'm going to have to replace it."

Edward clapped his hands and placed one on the radio. There was a flash of alchemical light, and the radio had been returned to its former glory.

Kain blinked down at the radio before he finally looked up at the three standing next to him. "Hey, it's Edward and Alphonse!" he cried in greeting. "And Dani too!"

Dani waved to him with a grin. "Hey."

"Welcome back, you three," Riza said with a smile. "Go on in. The Colonel is expecting you."

Edward's face fell at the mention of Roy's name, and Dani patted him on the back. "Oh, come on. He's not that bad," she said, before she moved towards the door which led to Roy's private office.

"Maybe not to you…" Edward grumbled as he shuffled after her reluctantly, Alphonse at his side.

Dani didn't bother to knock. She just threw the door open with a flourish. "I'm home!"

Roy smiled slightly at the cheer in her voice. "Welcome back," he greeted them.

The Colonel watched with a hint of amusement as Dani practically skipped over to his desk and jumped up to sit on the edge. She had a bad habit of doing that. He had told her many times before that there were couches in his office for a reason, but she still refused to sit anywhere else. After a while, he had just given up. Dani had always been a stubborn child. No matter how many times he told her not to do something, she would do it anyways, partly just to mess with him.

He tore his gaze from the girl as the Elrics dropped down onto the couch closest to the door. "Well done on the Reole case," he praised them. "Nice work. I appreciate you resolving that."

"No big deal," Edward said. "It's not like we did it for you."

Roy folded his hands. "Right. The Philosopher's Stone. Another false lead?" he asked.

"Yeah, after all that, the Stone was a fake," Edward sighed. He put his finger to his chin in thought, and Dani imagined that he was thinking back on what they had experienced in Reole. "Even so, the power it gave Cornello was real enough. He transmuted this huge chimera."

"I still wonder how he was able to use the Stone for that," Alphonse said. "I'm not familiar enough with the field of bio-alchemy to understand it."

Edward nodded. "I'm kind of curious about that too. It might be worth looking into." He shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe we'll find something that can help us restore our bodies."

Alphonse nodded.

"It's definitely worth a shot," Dani agreed.

Roy, who had been sitting back in his desk just listening to them talk, started rummaging through one of his drawers. "It might help if you consulted a specialist," he said as he pulled out a file from his desk. "The Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker. He's done some heavy research into chimera transmutations. I'll introduce you."

Dani smirked when the Elrics just stared at Roy in disbelief.

"You would do that for us?" Alphonse asked.

Edward jumped to his feet, immediately suspicious of Roy's intentions. "Okay, what's the catch? You want something, don't you?"

"Don't doubt my motives! I'm trying to repay you for your work on the Reole case!" Roy barked. He looked off to the side with an irritable tick of his eyebrow. "Doing you all a favor is better than being indebted to you," he added with a grumble.

Dani snatched the file from Roy's fingers while he was distracted. From the corner of her eye, she saw him blink down at his empty hands before he looked at her with a scowl, but she ignored him. Instead, she glanced over the contents of the file, even though she already knew what most of it said. "I've heard about this guy," she said. "He created that talking chimera, right?"

"Talking chimera?" Alphonse repeated curiously.

Roy sat back in his cushioned chair with a sigh. "Two years ago, Tucker transmuted a chimera that could understand human speech. It was what earned him his certification as a State Alchemist."

"Understand human speech?" Edward asked. "You mean…" He took a small step forward, excited now. "Wait, you mean it talks? A chimera?"

"Well, it _did_ talk. But only once," Dani explained.

"Right. Supposedly, it only said: 'I want to die.' After that, it refused to eat, until it got its wish."

Dani looked at the Elrics. "So what do you think?" she asked. "Shall we go?"

Edward nodded. "Definitely."

* * *

Dani stared up at the house in front of them in awe. Really, "house" wasn't the right word. Estate was more like it. The place was huge! Shou Tucker was obviously well paid for his research. Not that Dani expected anything less. After all, he created a talking chimera. To accomplish something like that, he had to be an excellent alchemist.

Roy stepped forward to ring the doorbell.

"Man, this house is huge," Edward gaped.

Dani blinked as a shadow suddenly fell over her and Edward, who stood directly at her side. She stepped to the side quickly, just as a large white dog came crashing down on top of the eldest Elric, pinning him to the concrete walkway. He shrieked at the sudden attack while Dani laughed outright at his plights.

Alphonse bent over his brother worriedly. "Are you okay?" he asked.

The door opened then, and Dani quickly composed herself as she turned to see two figures standing in the doorway. The first was a little girl about four-years-old. The other was a bespectacled middle aged man with a thin build and a receding hairline.

"Daddy, there are people out here! Look!" the girl cried excitedly.

"Nina, this is why I told you to keep the dog tied up," Shou scolded his daughter when he saw that his dog had tackled someone.

Edward groaned under the dog's weight.

* * *

After Dani had helped Edward out from under the Tucker's dog, Shou escorted them inside to his dining room. While he readied a pot of tea, Dani took a seat at the table between Roy and Edward as she glanced around the room. The general area was pretty well kept, but there was a pile of dirty dishes soaking in the sink in the adjoining kitchen. But Dani wasn't surprised. His file stated that his wife had left him two years ago, around the time that he had gotten his certification. And seeing as he was an alchemist in addition to being the father of a four-year-old girl, Dani suspected that Shou didn't have much time for housework.

She smiled up at Shou in thanks as he handed her a cup of tea. He returned it before he placed the remaining cups in front of her companions.

"I'm sorry about the mess," Shou apologized once he had taken his seat. "Ever since my wife ran out, this place has been a wreck. I'm not much of a housekeeper. Now that we're all settled in, let me say that it's a pleasure to meet you, Edward," he said. "As the Colonel told you, I'm the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker."

"Ed is interested in the field of biological alchemy," Roy explained. "He would like to have a look at your research if that's possible."

"Oh yes, certainly. I don't mind."

The Elrics exchanged pleased looks at Shou's consent.

"However…" Shou began, and Dani had a feeling that she knew exactly what he was going to say. "If you want me to show you the tricks I've got up my sleeves, it's only fair that you show me the tricks you've got up yours as well," he said.

Dani internally congratulated herself for being right while Edward frowned at the man.

"It is the code we live by: equivalent exchange." He sat forward and folded his hands. "Now, why are you interested in bio-alchemy?"

"Oh, um…" Roy stumbled for the right words. "Ed…well…you see, he's…"

Edward held up his hand, motioning for Roy's silence.

* * *

Dani watched Edward from the corner of her eye as he stood in front of his chair, his jacket hanging from his metal fingers. He had just finished explaining the circumstances of how he had lost it and his left leg, and how Alphonse had lost his body. She was admittedly surprised that he could talk about what they had gone through so casually now. She knew that it had happened over four years ago, but the two of them had gone through some serious trauma.

She quickly pushed the thoughts of what the Elrics had gone through to the back of her mind before she could delve too far into it and turned to Shou, who was staring at Edward in awe.

"You transmuted your mother?" Shou gasped. "As an eleven-year-old child…?" He adopted a look of pity. "I see. So that's what earned you the title Fullmetal Alchemist. You have had a rough time of it for someone so young."

Edward collapsed back into his chair, his eyes glued to the table.

Shou stared at him for a moment before he stood up, effectively drawing everyone's attention back to him. "I can't say for sure if it's going to be of any of use to you or not," he said, "but why don't you go ahead and take a look at my laboratory?"

* * *

A few minutes later found Dani standing in Shou's basement. There were a multitude of little cages lining the east wall, each filled with a kind of chimera, and there were jars upon jars of what looked like animal embryos and body parts on the shelves next to a single bookcase. It was awesome, but Dani had a bad feeling, standing in the room. Suddenly, she had the desire to run out of the house, to put as much distance between herself and this room.

She shook the feeling away and moved over to some of the cages. She knelt down to gaze in at the few chimeras that were there.

"Don't get too close, Dani," Roy warned her.

"Yes, sir," she replied, and she stood up and took a large step back to stand at Roy's side, her arms folded behind her back in a military fashion. She quickly altered her expression into the stern one that most military men had.

Roy rolled his eyes at her conduct.

"It's kind of embarrassing. I'm fairly widely regarded as an authority on chimeras but, the truth is, it hasn't actually been going that well lately," Shou admitted.

* * *

Next, Shou showed them to his private library. Dani stared into the room with an eager gleam in her eyes. The room was equivalent to that of the first story of a regular public library! And she was sure that most, if not all, of the books fell into the genre of alchemical science. Shou probably had books on every subsection of alchemy. It was like an alchemist's dreamland.

"Awesome!" Edward gasped, apparently just as amazed.

"This is my library," Shou said. "Feel free to look around."

The Elrics ran into the room as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"All right, let's dive in!" Edward said. "I'll start with this shelf." He reached up to the fourth row of the bookcase in front of him and grabbed a random book from the shelf.

"I'll try starting over here," Alphonse replied as he moved over to the bookcase opposite him.

"I'm going to head back to work now," Roy announced. "I will send somebody by to get you this evening."

Neither Edward nor Alphonse seemed to hear him, already completely absorbed in the books that they had plucked from the shelves. Dani smirked, knowing full well that they had both gone off in their own worlds.

Roy gave an amused grunt.

"They've got some ability to focus," Shou praised. "'m not sure they know we're here anymore." He pushed up his glasses on his nose. "Quite a catch, these two. A couple of prodigies."

Roy turned to Dani. "Keep an eye on them, will you?"

"Sure," Dani nodded. "I wouldn't mind taking a look at some of this stuff myself." She looked up at Shou. "That is, if it's all right with you."

"It's perfectly fine," Shou assured her.

She grinned. "Great! I'll see you later, Roy!" With that, she ran off into the library, disappearing amongst the shelves.

"She's certainly eager," Shou chuckled.

"She always is," Roy said with a fond smile.

* * *

Dani wasn't sure how long they had been in the library. All that she knew was that she had grown quite the collection of books around her since she had moved to the floor. She had been told before by several people that she tended to get too into the books that she read, to the point that she would spend hours and hours reading, unaware of what was going on around her. She supposed that she shared that with the Elrics.

There were only a handful of things that could pull her out of that state once she was in it, one of which was loud noises. So, when she heard laughter echoing around the room, she came crashing back down into reality.

She looked across the aisle that she was sitting in to where Alphonse had been reading to find him marching in place with Shou's daughter, Nina, on his shoulders instead as they laughed gleefully.

Dani smiled at the sight just as the eldest Elric came into view.

"Al! What are you doing? You're supposed to be reading!" Edward scolded him.

Alphonse stopped and turned to his brother sheepishly. "Uh, Nina looked like she wanted to play."

"Well, in case you forgot, we didn't come here to play horsey." He froze as a familiar shadow fell over him then. He turned towards the creature casting the shadow only to be pinned to the ground a second later by the Tucker family dog.

"Speaking of horses," Dani laughed.

Edward's hand twitched as the dog licked the back of his head.

"Alexander says that he wants to play too!" Nina giggled.

He raised his head. "That's what you want, is it?" he groaned. After a moment of struggle, Edward managed to crawl out from under Alexander, and he stumbled to his feet. "You've bested me twice now, dog. Play time is over." He turned to Alexander with fire in his eyes. "I'll not lose this time! I, Edward Elric, will use my considerable powers to vanquish you!"

Alexander yelped as he turned tail and ran.

Edward chased after him, yelling, "You mangy mutt!"

Both Dani and Nina laughed, while Alphonse just watched his brother. It was obvious that he was just as amused, even if there was no expression to show it.

* * *

As it turned out, even the infamous Edward Elric wasn't strong enough to best Alexander. After chasing him around the library for thirty minutes, Edward once again found himself pinned beneath Alexander's large form. Now, he seemed to have accepted his face, as he laid there quietly on the ground while Dani and Nina petted Alexander.

"That's a good boy," Dani praised the dog.

"Hey, guys. Your ride has arrived," a voice spoke from the doorway.

She turned to the voice to find Shou and Jean standing behind them. "Hey, Jean," she greeted him with a smile.

Jean grinned. "Hey, Dani." His gaze shifted to Alexander and who was underneath him and blinked dubiously at the scene in front of him. "What are you up to down there, Ed?" he asked.

"Oh, uh…let's just say I'm taking a break from a long day of research," Edward replied.

Dani stood and stepped back to watch as Edward scrambled out from under Alexander for the third time that day.

"After all that, you must be dog tired," Shou committed.

A dark shadow fell over Edward's face at the pun.

He chuckled into his hand while Dani openly snickered at Edward's reaction. "Why don't you come back tomorrow?" he offered.

Nina turned to Alphonse excitedly. "You're really going to come again?" she asked.

Alphonse nodded. "We'll play some more tomorrow, okay Nina?"

"Okay!"

* * *

The next day, Dani was back in Shou's library with the Elrics. They all had accumulated their fair share of books, all of which were stacked into towers around them, but, instead of actually reading them, they were listening to Nina talk about mother. Well, Dani and Alphonse were listening to her. Edward was only half listening, as he was the only one who was actually bothering to read the book in his hand.

"Your mother left two years ago?" Alphonse asked.

Nina nodded. "Daddy said she went back to live at her parents' house."

"It must get kind of lonely with just you and your dad living in this big house, huh?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Daddy's so nice, and plus I've got Alexander to play with too!" She wrapped her arms around Alexander's neck happily before she became sad again. "But lately daddy's been studying in his lab all the time. I guess that does make me a little bit lonely."

Dani jumped as Edward slammed his book closed suddenly.

Edward stood up and stretched with a loud yawn. "My shoulders are killing me," he whined.

"Maybe you should try to move around some, brother," Alphonse suggested.

Edward grinned as he rolled his automail arm back. "Yeah, not a bad idea, Al." He pointed down at Alexander, who seemed to start at the sudden attention. "Hey, you mangy mutt! Looks like you could use some exercise."

Dani grinned, realizing immediately what Edward was doing.

Alphonse closed his book with a chuckle. "Let's go too, Nina."

Nina grinned.

* * *

Dani stood with Alphonse off to the side as they watched Edward run around the yard, Alexander and Nina on his tail. Nina was riding on Alexander's back as if he were a miniature horse. Well, with her small stature, he sort of was.

"Come on! Try to get me!" Edward goaded as he ran.

"Wait up!" Nina called after him.

"Come on, slowpokes!" He turned suddenly and clapped his hands together, and he transmuted his automail arm into a puppet with a hairstyle similar to his own. Nina squealed as Alexander made a roundabout turn and took off, Edward close behind. "Here I come!"

As they were running past, Dani stepped forward and swept Nina off Alexander's back. The little girl shrieked in a mixture of surprise and hilarity as she suddenly found herself balanced on Dani's hip. Both Alexander and Edward stopped at the girl's disappearance and turned to the two girls, the older of which was grinning mischievously.

"Hey!"

"Get him, Alexander!"

Edward blinked as the dog turned to him, as he was told, and charged. He yelped and turn around, running in the opposite direction. Nina clapped her hands happily while they watched Edward run from Alexander. The dog then veered into the bushes and disappeared. Edward ran for a little while longer before he realized that Alexander was gone, and he laughed, thinking he had finally escaped. But then Alexander leapt from the bushes and tackled him.

Dani laughed. "Look at you! Outwitted by a dog!"

"Oh, shut up!" Edward called back, grinning.

* * *

Later that day, they sat at Tucker's dining table. The Elrics had decided to ask about Nina's mother, after hearing her story earlier. And even though Dani knew the story, mostly from gossip from the men up at East HQ, she sat and listened quietly as Shou explained the reasons for her abandonment.

"Before I earned my State Alchemist certification, our life was terrible. We were so poor in those days. My wife couldn't stand living that kind of life, so she left us." He sighed. "I cannot afford to fail the assessment. I don't want to go back to those days again. I don't think I could." He said this in such a tone of depression that Dani couldn't help the sympathetic look that she gave him.

"Don't worry, daddy!" Nina said from where she was sitting on the floor with Alexander. "If those people do tell you no, me and Alexander will growl at them until they say yes!"

Dani smiled at her declaration.

"You tell them, Nina," Alphonse laughed.

"Hey, Nina, I've got an idea," Shou said. "Do you want to play with daddy tomorrow?"

Nina brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Nina jumped to her feet and threw herself at her father, linking her arms around his neck with an excited yell. Shou was caught off guard for a moment before he wrapped his arms around the girl, bringing her around to hang by his side. "Alexander! Daddy says that he is going to play with us tomorrow?" Nina squealed.

Alexander barked happily.

* * *

Dani returned to the Tucker estate early the next morning with the Elrics. Edward rang the doorbell, but no one answered. Dani tilted her head curiously. That was unusual. Up until now, either Shou or Nina were always there to answer the door when they arrived. But she didn't give it too much thought. Instead, she opened the door herself, knowing that Shou usually kept it unlocked during the day.

"Hello, Mr. Tucker!" Alphonse called. "Thanks for having us again today!" He paused, expecting someone to shout back, but there was only silence.

They stepped into the house cautiously.

"Mr. Tucker!"

"Hey, Nina!" Edward shouted.

"Nina? Shou?" Dani joined in.

When their only answer was once again silence, they made their way down to Shou's laboratory, expecting him to be there. After all, it was Assessment Day. So they weren't surprised when they found him kneeling in the middle of the darkened room. Sitting with him was what Dani guessed was his new chimera, although she couldn't get a good look at it, seeing as Shou was in the way.

"There you are," Edward said. "So you are home."

"Yes," Shou replied.

Dani frowned at his off tone, and it only deepened when she finally got a good look at the creature sitting in front of Shou when he turned to look at her and the Elrics. It looked like a dog, but it also had a mane. Not exactly like a lion's, but it had dark brown hair at the top of its head which traveled down the length of its back, all the way down to its tail.

"I did it," he said. "I finally did it. A chimera that understands human speech. Here, I'll show you." He turned back to the chimera. "Listen to me. That person over there, that's Edward."

"That person…Ed…ward…" the creature parroted slowly.

Shou patted its head. "Yes, that's very good. Well done!"

"That's amazing!" Edward gasped. "It can actually talk!" He knelt down next to the creature to get a better look at it, while Shou got to his feet.

Dani didn't move from her place in the doorway with Alphonse, her earlier frown still on her lips. She had that feeling again. The presence of this chimera felt…odd. She had been around plenty of chimeras and, while they usually gave her an ominous feeling (like that first day; it was the reason why she had wanted to run from the room), none of them had given her such a feeling of dread.

"Now, I don't have to worry about losing my certification," Shou sighed in relief.

The chimera turned its head to Edward. "That person…Ed…ward," it said again. "That person… Ed…ward… That person…Ed…ward…" It smiled suddenly. "Big brother Ed…"

Dani felt her entire body seize up, and she quickly secured her expression into an impassive one. Now she knew why she felt so much dread. And it seemed that Edward had realized it as well, if his tense shoulders were anything to go by.

Edward was silent for a moment as he stared at the poor creature. When he did speak, he said, "Mr. Tucker, when did you first get your state certification?"

Shou put his hand to his chin in thought. "Let's see… It was two years ago."

"And when did your wife leave you?"

"That was two years ago too."

Edward stood up, although he didn't take his eyes off of the chimera. "I just have one more question for you. Nina and Alexander…" He turned his head to glare at Shou. "Where are they?"

Alphonse gasped, seeming to realize what he was getting at.

"Damn brat, figuring it out so quickly," Shou muttered.

Dani was only half surprised when Edward turned and launched himself at Shou, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pinning him to the wall with his forearm pressed against his neck.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried in shock.

"Oh yeah, I figured it out," Edward sneered. "You did it again! Two years ago, it was your wife! This time, you used your own daughter and her dog to transmute a talking chimera! You can only do so much with animals, after all! It's much easier when you start with a human! Isn't that right?" he yelled as he pressed his arm into Shou's neck with a little more force.

"I don't see what you're so upset about," Shou scoffed at his anger. "This is how we progress, is it not? Human experimentation is a necessary step. I would think a scientist would understand—"

"Shut up!" he snapped. "Do you really think that you can get away with this? Messing around with someone's life like that… Your own daughter!"

Shou grinned madly. "Someone's life, you say?" he cackled. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Look at you, Fullmetal Alchemist. Look at your leg, your arm, your brother! All those things are the result of 'messing around with somebody's life,' aren't they?"

That seemed to push Edward over the edge, and Dani almost winced when he pulled back his arm and slammed his fist into Shou's face with enough force to send his glasses to the floor. At least he hadn't used his automail arm to hit him, or else she would've had to stop him, and she really didn't want to, at least not yet. Dani was a passive person normally, but she understood that there were some people who deserved to be beaten for their wrongdoings, so she didn't feel the need to stop Edward from giving Shou what he deserved.

Shou seemed startled for a moment before he started cackling. "We _are_ the same! We're the same! You're just like me!"

"We're not!" Edward denied it.

"Oh, but, yes, we are," Shou laughed. "The opportunity was right in front of us and we took it. We had to, even though we know that it was against the rules!"

"No!" He started punching the man repeatedly in the face with as much strength as he could muster. "Not me! Alchemists don't…do that!" His tone had turned desperate now, as if he were trying to convince himself that was he was saying was true, but Dani could see the fear in his eyes even as he pulled his arm back for another hit. "I'm not… I'm not…!"

Before Edward could follow through, Dani decided that it was time to step in, and she grabbed his wrist. "That's enough," she said calmly. "You're only going to kill him if you keep this up."

Edward continued to glare at Shou's beaten and bloodied face, but, luckily, he didn't try to attack him again. Dani could see his internal struggle still going on. It wasn't until he took notice of the chimera, which had moved to their sides, that he seemed to calm down a bit, at least in regards to his anger.

"Edward…no…" the chimera said.

Edward released his hold on Shou, allowing him to slide down the wall.

"Daddy, do you hurt? Daddy?"

Dani let go of Edward's wrist, and his arm immediately fell to his side.

Alphonse led the chimera back to the other side of the room and knelt down to run his hand over its head. "I'm sorry," he sniffled. "Even with our power, we can't do anything to change you back." His voice started quivering. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"Can we play now?" the chimera asked. "Can we play now?"

Dani looked away from the two to turn back to where Shou was kneeling upon the floor, clutching his State Alchemist pocket watch as if it were a lifeline.

"I made it just in time," he was saying. "I get to remain a State Alchemist. I passed!"

Edward's face contorted as another bout of rage hit him, and he kicked the pocket watch out of Shou's hands. Dani couldn't help but feel a certain amount of pity for the man when he crawled over to it and picked it up, cradling it in his hands.

"Like hell you're staying a State Alchemist," Edward growled. "Like hell."

Dani turned her gaze back on Alphonse and the chimera.

"Can we play now?" the creature asked again.

From the corner of her eye, Dani saw Edward squeeze his eyes shut, and he shouted at the air.

While the Elrics mourned what had happened to Nina, Dani just stood in the center of the room, her hands stuffed into her pant pockets as she watched them. The whole time, she had refused to drop her impassive expression, even as she felt her heart clenching in her chest. Instead of allowing her own sorrow to show on her face, she curled her fingers into fists, concealed in her pockets.

* * *

Dani sat between the Elric brothers on the steps leading to the entrance to East HQ, her hand resting in Alphonse's. It was raining heavily, but none of them minded. In fact, Dani was pretty sure that they were using it to try and wash away everything that happened. But she knew that they would never forget it, no matter how much they might want to.

She looked at Edward from the corner of her eye. He was slumped over with his face buried in his arms. She wanted to comfort him, like she was trying to comfort Alphonse by letting him feel her holding his hand, but she didn't think that she had earned the right yet. She needed to develop a better relationship with him before she could do her counselor routine and have it be effective. But she felt like she needed to do _something_. So she placed her free hand on Edward's arm. He raised his head the slightest bit at the foreign touch, but he didn't pull away like she had expected him to. She took that as a good sign and gave his arm a gentle squeeze.

"If ever there was an example of the Devil's work in this world, this case would definitely be it."

Dani looked over her shoulder at the familiar voice. Roy and Riza were exiting the building, both of them dressed in their black overcoats.

Roy met her gaze, and his eyes softened the slightest bit as he and Riza started down the stairs.

"The Devil, huh…?" Roy muttered. "A State Alchemist must be willing to act. They must be able to take another's life when ordered, without question. In some ways, Mr. Tucker's actions and our own may not be all that far apart when it comes to interfering with other people's lives. We choose our own path, knowing full well what we're doing."

Roy stopped once he reached the step where Dani sat with the Elrics, but he didn't look at them.

"That's the way it is…right, Fullmetal?"

Edward didn't say anything.

"You'll more than likely come across cases like this again in the future, and you may end up having to get your own hands dirty as well. Are you going to shut down like this every time?"

They didn't bother waiting for an answer. Instead, Roy and Riza continued down the stairs.

"We may be called dogs of the military," Edward said suddenly, and Dani turned to him. "We may even be cursed as devils. But it doesn't matter. Al and I are still going to get our bodies back. We know the truth. We know we're not devils. We know we're not gods. We're human…" He stood up, forcing Dani to drop her hand from his arm, and looked to the clouded sky in anguish. "We're only human!"

Dani stared up at Edward sadly as he dropped his head back down to stare at his feet.

"We can't even do anything to save one innocent little girl…so what good are we then?"

There was a moment of silence as Dani absorbed Edward's words. She understood his feelings. It upset her that they weren't able to do anything for Nina and Alexander. However, once a chimera was created, there was no way of reversing the effects, and she knew that.

"Why don't you two go get some rest?" Dani suggested after a moment of silence. "I'm sure you need it after today."

Edward hesitated for a moment before he nodded, apparently deciding that it was a good idea. He didn't bother saying goodbye as he started walking down the stairs.

Alphonse stood up, releasing her hand (albeit reluctantly), but he didn't follow his brother immediately. Instead, he gazed down at Dani. "What about you?" he asked.

Dani smiled slightly. "I think I'll stay here a little longer. It's been a while since I've been able to just sit in the rain like this."

He nodded and, with a brief wave, went after his brother.

Dani watched the two until she thought they were far enough away. Then she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, letting her chin drop to rest on her kneecaps. She lowered her head until she knew that her eyes were shadowed by her hair, so that anyone who may look over at her wouldn't see the single tear that fell, mixing with the rainwater.


	4. The Man Called Scar

**Chapter Four: The Man Called Scar**

Dani sat in the center of her room, a mess of papers scattered around her and a book spread open in her lap. It was old, around four hundred years old, and well-worn. This particular book had been passed down her family for centuries, ever since it was first written by one of her ancestors. Inside was a detailed history of the ancient city of Xerxes, as well as information on the Philosopher's Stone. The whole thing was written in code, which the writer had developed and passed on to his children, so she should've been able to read the entire thing, but she had noticed when she was younger and was first allowed to read it that certain sections of the book were written differently than the others.

She spent several years trying to decode the whole thing, but she had only managed to make out a quarter of the words. It wasn't enough for her to make any sense of it, but it had given her a little insight into why these certain sections were written as they were. Whatever was written there, her ancestors had wanted to keep it secret from anyone outside of their family who might've gotten their hands on it.

She was pretty sure that her father had been able to read the entire thing, and even her brother had made cryptic comments about what was hidden there. They both told her that, when she was older, they would teach her the family codes that they had been keeping from her, but neither had gotten the chance. So she was left to decipher it on her own.

Dani was suddenly jolted from her thoughts by the feeling of a hand on her head. She looked up to find Roy knelt down in front of her. His lips pulled up into an almost sad smile.

She knew from the little bit of light streaming in through her window that it was fairly early in the morning, so she was surprised that he was already dressed in his uniform. As dedicated to his goal as he was, he wasn't usually the type to go into work early.

"Did you even try to sleep?" Roy asked. His tone was scolding, but there was also some sympathy hidden there.

"I was going to," Dani replied, "but then I decided I wanted to take another crack at decoding this."

He took the book from her lap and glanced over the contents of the pages, though he didn't even try to read it. He knew all about the Baldric's special family codes. They used them whenever their writings contained sensitive information. He also knew that there was no way that he could decode it, even if he was willing to put effort into it. The one who created these codes had been a genius, and it took someone of an equal genius intellect to figure it out. While he thought of himself as an intelligent guy, he knew that he didn't have the kind of brilliance that the Baldrics had.

"Have you made any headway on it?" Roy wondered.

"A little bit," Dani said. "But I'm focusing on the section about the Philosopher's Stone right now. The issue in Reole made me curious about the Stone's composition." She pointed to a short section on the second page. "This here mentions the process of creating a Philosopher's Stone, so I know that it's here. It's just going to take time to figure it out."

"I'm sure the Elrics could survive without you for a few days if you want to take the time off."

She nodded. "Maybe I'll do that, but not now. I don't think it's such a good idea to leave them to themselves, not after what happened with the Tuckers."

Roy frowned slightly. "Speaking of the Tuckers…"

Dani noticed the strife reflected in his black eyes and immediately became worried. "What?"

"I got a call from HQ a little while ago. Tucker and his daughter were murdered last night."

Her eyes widened. "What? By who?"

Roy shook his head as he placed her book on the ground and stood up. "We don't know yet, but I am going to head down to the crime scene."

"Give me a minute to change and I'll come with you," she said.

He watched her stand and make her way to her wardrobe, and a frown quickly formed on his lips. At the moment, she was dressed in a pair of black shorts and a white tank top, which revealed the full extent of her automail arm. It reached all the way to her shoulder, just like Edward's did. The socket plating extended out halfway across her clavicle, and again half way down her ribcage.

The arm's installation had created some pretty nasty scars all along her left side, Roy knew. There was one in particular that started at her axilla and stretched all the way down to her iliac crest, and it was the worst one. The others were relatively small, and they were usually covered by the socket plating. The only reason that Roy knew about them was because he always went with her whenever she needed to get a new arm. When the mechanic attached the new arms to her socket, she had to wear a sports bra to give him clearer access. Roy had seen the full extent of what the surgery had done to her body. Now, he tried not to stare whenever he could see the scars, but there were times when he couldn't help it. Dani was like a sister to him, while at the same time a sort of daughter. He hated knowing the pain that she had been through, not just from the automail surgery but from everything else.

Roy shook the thoughts from his head and gave a resigned sigh. "I would tell you to stay here, but I know that you would only follow me."

Dani grinned. "You know me so well."

He waved his hand nonchalantly as he walked out of her room to give her some privacy while she changed. "Yeah, yeah, just be ready in five minutes."

* * *

When they arrived at the scene, the bodies had already been covered, and Dani was grateful for it. The only reason that she had wanted to come with Roy was so that she could hear who it was that they suspected had committed the murders. She didn't know how she would've reacted if their bodies had been visible when she came in. It wouldn't have been the first time that she had seen a bloodied corpse, or the body of someone who she cared about. It was just the fact that the Nina Chimera was one of them that would've upset her.

Maes was knelt down next to the tarps covering the bodies, with Major Armstrong standing at his side. "He's always one step ahead of us," he muttered.

"We better catch up to him quickly," Armstrong said. "With the way things are going…"

"You sound as though you were expecting this," Roy pointed out.

Maes just looked up at him grimly.

"Fill me in."

* * *

Dani sat in the halls of East HQ with four of her favorite people. Riza had joined them some time after they had left the scene, and they had moved to HQ so that Maes could explain to them about the series of murders that his department had been investigating (along with the help of Armstrong and his subordinates) without worrying about anyone overhearing them.

Apparently, the Tuckers had been killed in the same way as the victims that Maes had discovered so far, so it was safe to assume that the murders were committed by the same person.

"Scar? Because of his face?" Roy asked.

Dani frowned. She had heard stories about the man called "Scar." He was so named because of a large "X" shaped scar on his forehead. The few times he had been sighted, that was all witnesses were able to make out regarding his appearance. The man had been going around killing off State Alchemists. No one knew the reason why he was targeting them in particular, just that he was so determined that he was willing to take down anyone who got in his way, civilian or not.

"We don't really know anything else about him, so that's what we're calling him," Maes said.

"Our target is both unidentified and elusive," Armstrong added. "The only information we've been able to obtain about him is that he has a large scar on his forehead."

Roy laced his fingers together in front of his face as his eyes narrowed in thought. "Yes, I've heard stories about that man. That's who you're trying to hunt down?"

"By order of the military police command center," Maes said. "Meanwhile, my other work is piling up." He put his hand to his head as if he were experiencing a headache. "Ugh, my head hurts…" he whined.

Dani smiled slightly at his attempt to lessen the tension.

"He has killed five people in Central, all State Alchemists," Armstrong explained. "His body count nationwide is up to ten."

"Five days ago, he took down old man Grand," Maes said.

Dani's eyes widened in surprise. "The Brigadier General?"

"But he's an expert in weapons transmutation!" Roy said, equally as surprised.

"That shows you how dangerous this guy is," Maes pointed out. "You should assign someone to watch Dani until we can catch him. And you should increase your escort and lay low for a while. Nobody will blame you."

Roy frowned, obviously not a fan of that second idea.

"Please, I'm asking you as a friend," he pleaded with him. "You two and Tucker are the only State Alchemists of note in this area, right?"

Dani stiffened.

"Oh no," Roy muttered, having realized the same thing that Dani had.

* * *

It didn't take much effort on Dani's part to locate the Elrics and, once she had, she informed Roy, and they headed out immediately with a team of soldiers to find them. Once they had, it couldn't have been a second too soon, as Scar had already found the boys.

Alphonse was lying in a nearby alley. Half of his armor had been blown away by what Dani could only describe as some kind of explosion, judging by the shatter patterns. But that wasn't what got her attention. It was the fact that Edward was lying face down in the middle of the street with an older man standing over him. His automail arm been destroyed (it looked like it had been blown apart in the same fashion as Alphonse's armor), and he remained unmoving as the man started to reach for the back of his head.

Dani couldn't see much of the man through the rain, but she could barely make out the "X" shaped scar, obscured slightly by the sunglasses that he wore.

As soon as they were out of the car, Roy and his men got into position, while Dani knelt down at the front of the line. She placed her hands on the road in front of her, and there was a flash of light from her alchemy. A small section of the asphalt broke down, transforming into a throwing knife twice the length of her index finger.

Across the way, Alphonse was trying to crawl out of the alley in a vain attempt to stop Scar from hurting his brother or to encourage Edward to run away, but Edward didn't seem to be listening. In fact, it looked as if he had resigned himself to his death, something which worried Dani greatly. She hadn't known Edward for very long, but, for as long as she had, he had seemed so determined to stay alive so that he could return Alphonse's body to him.

The situation with Nina must've done more to him than she had originally thought.

"Stop!" Alphonse cried. "Don't touch him! No! No, you can't! Stop it!"

Seeing that Edward wasn't about to even attempt to get out of this himself, Dani let the knife fly from her fingertips. It whistled through the air, and the sound was enough to draw Scar's attention from Edward. He jumped back before the knife could cut into his arm, and he stared down at where the knife landed on the street before he turned his gaze on the line of soldiers. Dani remained in her kneeling position at the front, her arm still held straight out in front of her so that Scar knew exactly who it was that had attacked him.

"I'd appreciate it if you stepped away from my friend now," Dani called out to Scar calmly. Now that she had his attention, she kept her eyes trained on him, very aware of the fact that she had just put herself in a dangerous situation, attacking him like that. But at least Edward was safe.

"Who are you to interfere?" Scar demanded.

Dani stood up, her hands going straight to her pockets. "They call me Pure."

Scar turned to face her fully, suddenly very interested in her. "Pure? So you are the Pure Alchemist, Danielle Baldric. I had wondered about the irony of a person like you receiving such a title."

She raised an eyebrow. "A person like me?"

"An alchemist," he clarified. "You alter things from their natural form, perverting them into some-thing else, something grotesque… You profane God, the true Creator of all things. As an agent of God, I'm here to hand down His judgment."

"I see. So I just prevented you from passing judgment on Fullmetal." She smiled slightly. "Well, I apologize for that. If you really want to pass judgment on someone, you're welcome to try it with me, if you'd like," she offered. As she said it, she instantly came up with several different strategies for her to get away unscathed, before she settled on which she knew would be the most effective.

"What? Are you insane?" Roy hissed.

Dani waved her hand at Roy, indicating for him to be silent, without looking away from Scar.

Scar stepped away from Edward, seeming to deem Dani as a greater threat. "Volunteering yourself to receive judgment? Are you sure you want to tempt fate, child?" he asked.

"Pretty sure," Dani replied as she reached out her hand discreetly and tapped Riza on the arm. She threw her a quick glance from the corner of her eye, hoping that she would know what she wanted without her having to say it.

Thankfully, the older woman nodded.

"Very well," Scar said. "This is truly an auspicious day!" He took off at a surprisingly fast speed, running straight for Dani, who walked forward at a fairly casual pace to meet him.

Roy made to go after her, but Riza stopped him. "What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Let her handle this, sir," Riza ordered more than requested.

He frowned, but he didn't try to move again. Instead, he turned his gaze back on Dani and Scar.

The two finally met, and Scar threw out his hand, making to grab her face. Dani took a quick step to the side, allowing his hand to skirt past her head. She blinked as she registered a familiar energy surrounding his arm, but she didn't get long to ponder it as Scar swiped at her with his outstretched hand. She ducked under it and threw herself into a backhand spring, putting some distance between them.

"Well, that's interesting," Dani muttered, staring at Scar's left arm.

Scar glared, seeming to know what she was referring to. He ran at her again only to be forced back when Riza started firing on him. He danced out of the path of her bullets, until he was able to duck behind the corner of a nearby building.

Dani threw Riza a smile over her shoulder. "Thanks."

"No problem," Riza replied.

"Are you okay?" Roy asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Dani assured him before she turned back to look at where Scar was hidden.

The man poked his head around the corner, frowning. "You think you can defeat me with bullets? I will destroy all who interfere with my mission!" He stepped out from behind the corner, ready to attack Dani again, but he never got the chance as Armstrong appeared behind him.

"I'd like to see you try it!" the Major shouted as he swung his fist down on Scar, who managed to jump out of the way just in time. His fist crashed into the sidewalk instead, causing the concrete to spike as a crater formed where Scar had been standing.

"A newcomer?"

Armstrong pulled his fist back out of the crater. "You have to be quick to avoid my fist. Not bad. Not bad at all." He stood up straight. "You said you were going to destroy us all. In that case, why don't you start by defeating me? We will see how you fair against the Strong Arm Alchemist, Dani Luis Armstrong!"

While the Major spoke, Dani saw Jean and a few soldiers make their way to Edward.

Jean grabbed him by the shoulders and sat him up.

"Yet another State Alchemist," Scar said. "God is putting them in my path for me."

"Not backing down? In that case, your courage will earn you a demonstration," Armstrong stated. He picked up one of the stones that had formed when he punched the concrete. "I'll show you the art of alchemy that's been passed down the Armstrong family for generations!" He threw the stone into the air and, as it was coming back down, reared back his fist. He thrust it forward just in time, punching the stone at the same time that his alchemy sparked, causing it to shoot out a stone arrow.

Scar quickstepped to the side, as Dani had done earlier, and the arrow went whizzing past his head before becoming embedded in the wall behind him.

While Scar was distracted, Dani moved back to stand with Roy's men. As soon as she was within reach, Roy grabbed her arm and pulled her over to his side. Dani blinked at his action and looked up to find him frowning at her.

"Why are you always so reckless?" Roy asked, sounding drained.

Dani grinned. "It's one of my many charms."

He scoffed, although he didn't contradict her. Instead, both he and Dani turned back to the fight.

Armstrong drove his fist into the ground, and his alchemy created a line of spikes, which shot up one by one, quickly closing the distance between him and Scar, who swung out his arm before the spikes could do any damage, easily blasting them into pieces with the arm that he had tried to use on Dani.

"Major, watch what you're doing!" Jean shouted. "We don't want to destroy the city, do we?"

"What do you mean?" Armstrong replied, and Dani deadpanned when he ripped off his shirt and struck a pose. "Destruction and creation are two sides of the same coin! You must destroy to create! That's the law of the universe!"

"Did he _have_ to strip?" Riza muttered.

"Are you surprised?" Jean asked. "He's clearly insane."

Armstrong harrumphed at their apparent lack of understanding. "You non-alchemists may fail to see the adherent truth of that comment, but we understand, don't we, Scar?'

Roy's eyes widened in realization. "So this killer is an alchemist too…"

"How do you think he managed to kill the Brigadier General?" Dani asked. When Roy just looked down at her, silently asking what it was that she knew, she started to explain. "You know the stages of the transmutation process—construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction. Scar stops at the deconstruction phase."

"Of course," Edward gasped.

"But, if Scar is an alchemist too, doesn't that mean that he has strayed from whatever his ways of God are too?" Jean pondered.

"And what would be his reason for targeting alchemists with state certification?" Roy wondered.

Meanwhile, the battle between Scar and Armstrong waged on. The Major had taken to combining his alchemical attacks with hand-to-hand offense, forcing Scar to focus on his defense, so that he was unable to counterattack.

At some point, Armstrong managed to back Scar into the wall.

"I have you cornered, Scar!" the Major cried as he reared his arm back, prepared to attack.

Scar's eyes flashed, and Dani's eyes narrowed slightly as he went to take advantage of the fact that Armstrong had left his ribcage open for an attack. Thankfully, the Major saw this and was able to jump back in time. Scar paused, shocked that he had managed to evade him, before he looked over to where Riza was kneeling, rifle trained on him. She fired two bullets, the second of which Dani noticed grazed his forehead, in the process knocking off his sunglasses.

"Did you get him?" Roy asked.

"He's too fast. I only grazed him with one shot," Riza answered.

Armstrong had become frozen and was staring at Scar with wide eyes. "Red eyes and brown skin… That means he's…"

Roy gasped. "Of course! He's an Ishvalan!"

Dani glanced at Roy from the corner of her eye. She had heard a lot about the Ishvalans from not only him, but from Riza and Maes as well. She turned her gaze back on Scar, who was now staring at them with a calculating gaze.

"Perhaps there are too many…" Scar mumbled to himself.

"You might as well give up, Scar," Roy called. "You're not getting away."

Before Roy could give the sign to fire, Scar clapped his hand to the ground at his feet. A light from the alchemical reaction blinded everyone for a split second before the sidewalk exploded, creating a large hole that was approximately ten yards wide. Of course, Scar was gone by that point, having escaped into the sewer system.

"The bastard is in the sewers," Jean grumbled.

"Stay put," Roy ordered him.

"Sure. You don't have to tell me twice."

Armstrong moved to stand on Roy's other side. Thankfully, he had slipped back into his overcoat, though he kept it open.

"Sorry, Armstrong, but thank you for buying us enough time to surround him," Roy thanked him.

"I was hardly buying time," the Major said in response. "It was all I could do to keep myself from being killed."

"Oh, is it over now?" a familiar voice asked.

Dani turned to find that Maes had popped up behind them, apparently having come out of nowhere.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, where have you been this whole time?" Armstrong demanded.

"I thought it best to lay low," Maes replied.

"You didn't think about maybe backing us up?" Roy asked irritably.

"Of course not!" he scoffed. "A person like me shouldn't get dragged into a freak show with you pack of pseudo-humans! It's bad for my health!" He suddenly turned on a few lower ranking men standing next to him. "Don't just stand there! We've got things to do! Deploy troops! Circulate his description!"

The men saluted him. "Yes, sir!"

While the soldiers went to do as they were told, Dani leaned across Roy to look at Edward when she heard him gasp. She watched as he pushed himself to his feet with his remaining arm and ran across the street to where Alphonse was still sitting in the alley.

"Alphonse!" Edward cried, kneeling in front of his brother. "Al, talk to me! Are you okay?"

"That suit of armor is Elric's younger brother, is it?" Armstrong asked.

"There's got to be a really long story behind this one," Jean said.

"You have no idea," Dani muttered before she stepped around Roy and the others. She ran over to the mouth of the alley and stopped there. She wanted to join the Elrics inside the alley, so that she could see for herself whether Alphonse was okay, but she didn't want to intrude. She still hadn't earned that right.

"Come on, Al! Al! Do you hear me?" Edward continued to say.

Dani jumped in surprise as, rather than answering him, Alphonse struck out with his fist, punching his older brother in the cheek. The force behind it knocked him onto his back.

"Why didn't you run away when I told you to?" Alphonse snapped. "What kind of idiot are you?"

Edward sat up quickly. "No way am I going to just run away and leave you behind!"

"Which is exactly why you're an idiot!" He struck again, this time knocking Edward across to the other wall.

Edward sat up, clutching at his aching cheek. Before he could do or say anything more that would only end up getting him hit again, Dani stepped up to attempt to alleviate the tension. "He was just doing what he thought was best, Alphonse," she said.

The younger Elric turned on her, causing her to jump back in alarm. "And you! You tried to take Scar on by yourself too!"

"Yeah, why the hell did you do that? You could've gotten yourself killed!" Edward yelled.

"Hey, don't yell at me," Dani snapped. "I was only trying to help." She crossed her arms, a frown on her lips as she met Edward's gaze. "Besides, aren't you being just a little hypocritical scolding me for something you did too?"

Alphonse turned back on Edward. "She's right!"

"Hey, if I'd run away like you wanted, you could've been killed, you know that?" Edward argued.

"And maybe I wouldn't have been! Making a decision to die is something only an idiot does!"

He frowned. "Hey, easy on the idiot stuff! I'm still your older brother, got it?"

"I'll say it all I want to!" He grabbed Edward by the collar of his shirt and pulled him forward so that he was forced to look him in the eye. "Survival is the only way, Ed. Live on! Learn more about alchemy! You can find a way to get our bodies back and help people like Nina. You can't do that by dying! I will not allow you to abandon the possibility of hope and choose a meaningless death!"

Dani blinked as Alphonse's arm suddenly fell off, forcing him to release his hold on Edward.

"Oh, great! And now my arm's come off because my brother's a big, fat idiot!"

Edward dropped his head with a sigh. "We're really falling apart, aren't we, brother? We look like we belong in a junkyard," he chuckled.

"But we're still alive…" Alphonse replied in a much softer tone.

"Yeah, we are."

"Something I couldn't be more grateful for," Dani said. She grinned down at the Elrics as they both looked up at her. "Now, what do you say we get you two someplace dry?"

Alphonse nodded while Edward just stared at her with an unreadable expression.

* * *

Dani sat at the front of Roy's desk, listening as he told everyone about the conflict between their military and the Ishvalans. She had heard the stories before, back when she had forced Roy to tell her why he had been instructed to go to Ishval. She had grown up hearing stories about the conflict, but she had been shielded from most of it. Then she noticed the change in Roy when he returned from his tour, and she had made him tell her what happened.

Still, her knowledge didn't keep her from becoming engrossed in his story.

"The Ishvalans were a race of people who lived to the east of us. They believed their god, Ishvala, was the one, absolute Creator. Even after they were annexed into the country, there were conflicts between us and them. Then, thirteen years ago, a military officer on our side accidentally shot and killed an Ishvalan child, and it led to a full blown Civil War.

"One uprising led to another and, before long, the rebellion had spread to the whole eastern sector. After seven years of this, an order came down from the military high command to exterminate all of Ishval. Many State Alchemists were brought in to act as human weapons. Needless to say, these State Alchemists produced striking results.

"That man is an Ishvalan survivor. In a sense, his revenge is justified."

"No way," Edward scoffed.

Dani looked to where he stood next to his brother.

"There is no justification for taking revenge on people who had nothing to do with it. He is just dressing his lust for vengeance in the mantle of his god and calling himself an agent of justice."

"Still, fact is, he is coming at us with full force," Roy said. "We cannot let ourselves be killed for his cause." He looked around at everyone gathered in his office. "Next time, there will be no more talk. Got it?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," the soldiers replied.

Dani stared at Roy for a moment before she moved her gaze back to the Elric brothers. "So what's the plan now, Edward? What are you going to do?"

"We're going to keep moving," Edward replied. "We can't sit around, not as long as we're alive."

"Brother…" Alphonse said, sounding very proud.

He smiled at his little brother. "Before we make any headway on getting your body back, we have to get my arm back to normal. After all, I'm the only one who knows how to bond your soul to the armor."

Alphonse nodded.

"We've got no choice. It's been a long time. We need to pay a visit to our mechanic."

Dani leaned back on her hands. "Guess that means I'm stuck here for a while," she sighed.

"Oh joy," Roy muttered.

She smirked at his sarcasm and was about to respond when Alphonse asked, "What are you talking about? You're coming with us, right?"

Dani blinked in surprise. "You mean you want me to?"

"Of course." He turned to Edward. "Don't we, brother?"

Edward shrugged. "Why not? It'll be easier than us having to come back for you."

Dani stared at him for a moment, trying to deduce whether or not he actually meant it or was just saying to appease his brother. If he was, then she would turn down the offer. While she wanted to stick close to them after everything with Scar, she didn't want to force her company on him. That was no way to convince him to let her help. After all, she was still in the assessment phase of their relationship.

Edward seemed to feel her gaze, and he looked up to meet it. She was surprised when the corners of his lips turned up in to a small smile, as if he had read her mind and was assuring her that it was okay.

She grinned. "All right. A trip to Resembool it is then."


	5. A New Lead and New Worries

**Author's Note**

Sorry it's been a while since I posted the last chapter. I've got about fifteen other stories saved in my computer and I've been working on some of those, not to mention a few new ones. My creative juices just will not stop flowing!

Anyway, _Perminatly Lost In Thought_ : I'm right there with you. The Nina episode is so sad! I'm really glad you liked the last chapter. And thank you for the compliment on my writing. I'm always a little hesitant about sharing my writing because I don't think it's good enough. But I suppose everyone is their worst critic!

 _Geust_ : I'm glad that you like the story so far! And Dani too! She's one of my favorite OCs that I've created.

 **Chapter Five: A New Lead and New Worries**

Over the years that Dani had been working for Roy as an honorary State Alchemist, she had been sent to visit very few cities. Most of the time, she was restricted to the main ones where there was a military base that she could operate out of. The only times that she was allowed to go elsewhere were when she had to return to her hometown of New Optain for automail repairs. So, admittedly, she was excited that she was going with the Elrics to _their_ hometown.

Going to Reole had been one thing. They went there searching for the Philosopher's Stone. And it hadn't exactly been a nice trip. But Resembool was going to be different, Dani knew. They were going so that Edward could get a new arm, which meant that, for as long as it took for his automail mechanic to make it, Dani could explore without any worries.

Dani was pulled out of her reverie by the sound of someone knocking on the window. She turned to the sound to find Maes peering in at them.

"Hey," he greeted them.

Edward stood up to pull down the window, so that they could talk properly. "Lieutenant Colonel?"

"What are you doing here, Maes?" Dani wondered.

"The folks up at Eastern Command Center were a little busy to make it down here today, so I came to see you off instead," Maes replied.

"Great, but would you mind telling me what the Major's doing here?" Edward asked.

Dani looked over at Major Armstrong, who was sitting on the bench opposite her next to Edward. When they had arrived at the train station, he had been standing there waiting for them. Apparently, Roy had instructed him to accompany them to Resembool. Of course, Edward had been less than pleased, and was still against the idea of having a bodyguard. Dani didn't blame him. If she were honest, she didn't like the idea much either, but she understood that Roy was worried about them and wanted to ensure their safety, and who better to send to protect them than the man who had already shown that he could hold his own in a fight against Scar?

"For protection," Maes said. "What would happen if Scar came after you two again? While we are all sure Dani could hold her own, especially now that we know what Scar is capable of, we decided that it would be better if she had some backup, since you're in no condition to fight."

Edward grabbed at his left shoulder, where his arm should be, a frown on his lips.

"The Major's here to help. Just try to grin and bear it."

"Children can be so stubborn," Armstrong huffed.

"Hey, shut up! I'm no child!" Edward yelled.

Dani grinned at his response. "Calm down, Edward," she laughed. "He's just messing with you."

He seemed to deflate, apparently doing as she had said, and he heaved a heavy sigh in defeat. "Are you sure Al made it onboard?"

"Of course," Armstrong said. "I personally made sure that he was placed in the compartment with the livestock." While Edward gaped up at him with a mixture of shock and anger, the Major stroked his chin proudly. "I thought he might get lonely without a little company."

"My brother isn't some kind of farm animal!" he bellowed.

Dani snickered, causing Edward to turn on her.

"Stop laughing! It isn't funny!"

The train station bell rang, indicating that the trains were about to depart, and effectively calming Edward down again. Dani grinned. It was amusing how quickly he could change moods. He could be yelling at you one minute and then laughing with you the next.

"Oh, it's time," Maes said.

The whistle blew as the train engine started.

He stepped away from the window to salute them. "Okay, you all have a safe trip. Stop in and give me a shout the next time that you make it to Central."

Edward and Armstrong saluted back as the train started to move.

"See you, Maes," Dani said, grinning still.

Maes smiled. "Bye, Dani."

* * *

The ride to Resembool would take thirty-six hours, so Dani relaxed into her seat as soon as they had picked up speed. For a few hours, she entertained herself by looking out the window to watch the unfamiliar scenery go by. Edward fell asleep seven hours in, and Dani found herself following suit a few hours later. Usually, she had trouble sleeping on trains, but she had gotten little sleep in the past few days, thanks to the issue with Nina and Scar, so she was exhausted.

She was startled awake after what felt like only a few minutes by Armstrong yelling.

"Doctor Marcoh! Doctor Marcoh, that is you, isn't it?"

Dani looked up at the Major, blinking blearily as she took in the sight of him poking his head out of the window, crushing Edward between his chest and the train wall. She smirked at the sight before her curiosity got the best of her, and she turned her gaze out of the window to see who Armstrong was yelling at.

The only person standing on the platform was an old man dressed in a brown suit.

She frowned. She recognized that wrinkled face. Back when she had first gone through the military personnel files, she had stumbled across the file of Doctor Tim Marcoh. Before the Civil War, he had worked as a researcher, in addition to being a State Alchemist. According to the file, he went AWOL after returning from the war, and had taken his research materials with him. The file said that he had been researching possible medical applications of alchemy, but Dani felt that there was more to it. It made no sense for him to steal that kind of research.

"It's me!" Armstrong continue to shout. "Alex Louis Armstrong from Central!"

Doctor Marcoh's eyes widened in terror as he realized who Armstrong was, and he turned tail and ran from the platform.

"Friend of yours?" Edward asked.

"He's from Central. A talented State Alchemist," the Major explained.

Dani looked at Armstrong. "He was researching possible medical applications of alchemy, right?" She saw Edward throw her a curious glance, but she ignored him, focusing on the Major instead. She has asked mostly for Edward's sake, but he didn't need to know that.

Armstrong nodded. "Yes. But, after the Ishvalan Civil War, he went missing. Just disappeared."

When Dani looked at Edward, she could practically see the gears turning in his head, and she knew immediately what he was thinking. "We're going after him, aren't we?" she asked.

"Definitely," Edward replied. "Come on." He ducked out from under Armstrong's arms and took off running down the aisle.

Dani and Armstrong exchanged looks before following after him.

* * *

After grabbing Alphonse and their luggage, they wandered the town looking for Doctor Marcoh. It quickly became apparent, however, that just asking for him wasn't going to get them very far, so Armstrong pulled out a pencil and sketchpad and started drawing. When they approached a man on the street, he held the sketchpad up for him to see the amazingly drawn portrait.

"Excuse me, but do you know who this person is by chance?" the Major asked.

"Wow, Major, you can really draw," Edward complimented him.

Armstrong looked at him with self-pride. "The art of portraiture has been passed down through the Armstrong family for generations," he bragged.

"Of course it has," Dani mumbled.

"That man looks like Doctor Mauro to me," the man said.

They turned to him curiously.

"Mauro?" Armstrong repeated.

"All of our town's doctors were drafted to help on the battlefield during the Civil War. Then Doctor Mauro came here," the man explained. "He's really been a lifesaver."

The more people that they asked about "Doctor Mauro," the more that Dani became curious as to what the good doctor had been up to all of this time. According to the townspeople's accounts of his medical workings, he had actually found a way to use alchemy to heal the people. One woman told them of her experience with him, and she described a flash of light before she found herself cured of what had been ailing her.

They spoke to a few more people and ultimately decided that it would definitely be worth it to go speak with Doctor Marcoh. Soon, they found themselves outside of his home.

Edward climbed the stairs first, arriving at the door before the rest. "This is it," he said. He rapped on the door and paused, waiting for a response, but there was none. He glanced down at Dani, who stood on the step below him, and she shrugged. He turned back to the door and grabbed the handle. "Um, hello?" he called cautiously as he opened the door, only to be met by the barrel of a revolver.

Dani grabbed Edward's arm and pulled him towards her just before the Doctor pulled the trigger.

"All right, tell me what you three are doing here," Doctor Marcoh ordered them. "Have you come to take me back?"

"Please, Doctor, calm down," Armstrong attempted to soothe him.

But the Doctor wasn't having it. His hand shook as he aimed the revolver at Armstrong when he stepped in front of him. "I don't ever want to go back," he said. "Anything but that!" he practically begged with a tremor of terror in his voice.

"That's not it. Please, listen."

"So you're here to silence me then," he deduced.

"No, nothing like that," the Major quickly assured him.

"I won't be tricked by you!"

Apparently, Doctor Marcoh wasn't about to listen to reason. He was far too terrified for that, for whatever reason. The realization of that seemed to irritate the Major, and he decided to take on an entirely different approach. He took the box that Alphonse was sitting in and threw it at the poor Doctor, knocking him onto his back.

"I'll ask you one more time, please calm down!" Armstrong shouted.

"Alphonse!" Edward cried out in concern for his little brother.

Dani frowned up at Armstrong. "Major!"

"I'm sorry, Dani, but I saw no other alternative," Armstrong said.

"You could have just hit him. You didn't have to throw Alphonse at him," she scolded him. Then she blinked, realizing what she had said. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh God, you people are corrupting me."

* * *

A few minutes later, Dani found herself sitting on the edge of Alphonse's box while the others sat around Doctor Marcoh's dining table.

His house ended up being just one big room with little to no decorations. There was a small bed in the far corner, a stack of boxes filled with books on the wall across from it (Dani suspected that they were all medicine and alchemy books), and several pantries lining the rest of the room, stuffed full of medicine bottles.

It was definitely the house of a doctor.

"So you changed your name and decided to live in hiding out here in the countryside," the Major was the first to speak after several long moments of silence. "If the rumors that I've heard can be believed, when you disappeared…you took top-secret materials with you," he said, hinting for the Doctor to tell him whether or not these rumors were true.

Doctor Marcoh stared down at the surface of the table, his shoulders slumped. "I couldn't handle it anymore," he muttered. "Order or no order, to have to dirty my hands researching that _thing_ was too much."

"What thing is that?" Edward asked.

"It took so many lives… During the Civil War, so many innocents died because of it. I could spend my whole life trying, and, still, I'll never atone for the things I've done. But I had to do something, so I came here to be a doctor, to save lives instead of taking them," he explained rather than outright answering Edward's question.

"Doctor, what exactly was it you were ordered to do research on? What thing?" Armstrong asked.

"The Philosopher's Stone," he almost spat, as if saying the word disgusted him.

Everyone but Dani stared in surprise. She wasn't shocked that he had been researching the Stone. Instead, her eyes narrowed in thought. She didn't let herself linger on it for very long, but she had just made a troubling connection.

"The top secret materials I took were my research documents…and the Stone itself."

Edward jumped to his feet, excited. "You mean you still have it? It's here?"

Doctor Marcoh paused, surprised by his response, before he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small glass bottle filled with a crimson liquid.

His brow furrowed in confusion. "How can that be the Stone? It's a liquid."

"The Stone isn't limited to just one shape, Edward," Dani said.

Edward looked at her, obviously wondering what she meant, before Doctor Marcoh regained their attention as he unstoppered the bottle. He poured the liquid onto the table, and the others gasped when, instead of going everywhere like most liquids would, it formed itself into a blob in the same spot where he had poured it.

"She's right," the Doctor said. "The Philosopher's Stone has many names—the Sage's Stone, the Grand Elixir, the Celestial Stone, the Red Tincture, the Fifth Element… And, just as it is called by many names, so it can take on many forms. It is not necessarily a stone."

Edward poked at the liquid, awed by it.

"This is an incomplete product, however. There's no way to know when it will reach its limit and become unusable."

"Finished or not, it demonstrated plenty of power during the Ishvalan Civil War, right?"

Dani looked at Edward, knowing exactly where his mind was going.

"It's just like the Stone that the false priest had up in Reole. It was incomplete, but it still amplified his power considerably. If imitation Stones this powerful can be produced, then who is to say that a complete product can't be created?" He grinned to himself before he stood up again, slamming his hands down on the table definitively. "Please, Doctor Marcoh, I need access to your research materials."

Doctor Marcoh stared at him incredulously before he turned to the Major. "Major, who exactly is this boy?" he asked.

"This boy is a State Alchemist, Doctor," Armstrong replied. "And so is the girl."

The Doctor's eyes widened in a shock and terror. "What? But they're only children!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, absolutely horrified. "After the war, there were many State Alchemists who turned in their certifications because they refused to serve as human weapons anymore. And now two children…!"

"You think I don't know what I've sighed up for?" Edward snapped.

Dani just watched, expressionless, as the Doctor looked up at Edward, who had taken to grabbing at his shoulder again. She could see the pure emotion in Edward's eyes as he seemed to reflect on everything that he had been through to get to this point, on the things that he had seen and done so far. And he was willing to go through so much more to right the wrongs that he had done, not only to the world but to his brother.

"I know what I'm doing, but I don't have a choice. If this is a mistake, then it's a mistake that I'll have to make. There is no other way."

* * *

Dani sat with her arms crossed, staring at the tincture while Edward told Doctor Marcoh what he had gone through, how he had lost his arm and leg, and how his brother had lost his whole body. When he was finished, they sat in silence for a moment as not only the Doctor but the Major took in everything that he had said.

Dani hadn't even bothered to listen, having heard the story so many times, though she did, once again, find herself marveling at how easily Edward could talk about it now.

"I see," the Doctor finally said. "So you've committed the taboo?" He stood up and stepped around the table to examine Alphonse. "Amazing. To have the ability to transmute a specific person's soul like this… Maybe one as talented as you could produce a complete Philosopher's Stone."

Edward's face lit up at that. "So…"

"But I can't show you my research."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"You must not seek after the Stone."

"Not even if it's to get our bodies back?"

He looked off to the side. "Never! This is the devil's research. If you chase the Stone, you will go through hell."

Edward jumped to his feet once again, this time in anger. "I've already been through hell!"

Doctor Marcoh looked up at him, surprised by his outburst, before he seemed to deflate. He turned his back on them all, his shoulders slumped again. "Please… Please, just leave…" he begged, his voice exhausted.

* * *

When it became obvious that Doctor Marcoh wasn't going to budge on his decision, they walked back down to the train station. As soon as Dani had sat down between Edward and Armstrong on one of the benches, she allowed her mind to wander back to the connection that she had made.

Doctor Marcoh had spoken about all of the lives that had been sacrificed during the war. The rest of them had seemed to just attribute what he had said to the horribleness of the war, but Dani had picked up on his meaning. He hadn't been talking about the war when he said "so many innocents died because of it." He had been talking about his research. He meant that his investigation into the Stone had caused the deaths, not the war.

Dani understood how they could've thought that he had meant the war. She, herself, wouldn't have understood the truth if not for that book that her ancestors had written. When she had stayed up that night to decode it, she had managed to make out a few words that, at the time, hadn't made much sense. One word in particular stood out now after having listened to Doctor Marcoh: souls. Under the section about the composition of the Stone, she had discovered that word written several times throughout the passage.

Somehow, the creation of the Philosopher's Stone involved the use of souls.

She jumped as she felt a hand fall on her shoulder, and she turned to find Edward and Armstrong looking at her oddly.

"You all right?" Edward asked.

"I'm fine," Dani assured him.

He stared at her, obviously not believing her, but he seemed to decide against calling her out on it. Instead, he stood up and grabbed his suitcase. "Come on, the train's here."

Dani looked towards the tracks and was surprised when she saw the train pulling in. She hadn't even heard it approaching. She shook her head and stood up, grabbing her own suitcase, while the Major grabbed Alphonse.

"What about you, Major? How do you feel about not reporting back to Central on Doctor Marcoh's location?" Edward asked.

"I met a simple, small town Doctor. I can't see any real reason to report that," Armstrong replied.

Dani tilted her head while Edward chuckled, pleased with his answer, and wondered what kind of conversation she had missed when she had been lost in her thoughts.

"Wait!" someone called out.

They turned to the voice to find Doctor Marcoh standing there panting, his hands on his knees.

Edward blinked, surprised to see him. "Doctor Marcoh?"

The Doctor straightened up, having caught his breath, and handed Edward a folded piece of paper. "This is where my materials are. If you are certain you won't regret learning the truth in the end, start looking here. Look closely. Maybe you will find the truth hidden within the truth." He closed his eyes, looking amused at himself. "But I've said too much already." He turned away, waving at them over his shoulder as he walked away. "I hope the day will come when you are able to restore your bodies."

They stared after him, surprised that he had changed his mind, before Armstrong raised his hand in a salute and Edward bowed to the Doctor's back respectfully.

Dani just stared after him with a small frown on her lips.

* * *

Back on the train, Dani sat staring out of the window, expressionless. Alphonse sat on the bench next to her. Since they were fairly close to Resembool now, they had decided against putting him back in storage. It was easier if he stayed on the carriage with them so that they didn't have to go all the way back to the storage compartments to fetch him once they arrived.

"Brother, what does the note say?" Alphonse asked.

Edward unfolded the note to read it. "'National Central Library, First Branch,'" he read.

"I get it," Armstrong said, "like hiding a tree in a forest. Finding one book in that giant library will be difficult indeed."

He smiled to himself. "Finally, another clue about the Stone."

They fell silent as they wondered what could possibly be hidden inside Doctor Marcoh's note. But the silence didn't last long, as Edward turned his gaze on Dani. He frowned, seeing the impassive look on her face. He had noticed that she had been off ever since they spoke to Doctor Marcoh and he was, admittedly, beginning to worry. He hadn't known her for longer than a few days, but he had already discovered quite a few things about her. One was that she rarely ever let things get to her. She hadn't even cried after the thing with the Tuckers, even though she had become close to Nina herself. So to see her like this now…

Edward's frown deepened. "What's up with you?"

Dani blinked, surprised by the sudden question, and looked at Edward.

The others looked at him as well, just as confused as Dani seemed. But he paid them no mind, his attention focused on her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You've been acting weird ever since we left Doctor Marcoh's," he said. "Why?"

Dani's face cleared, and she regained that same impassive look, which just irritated Edward. And, if she noticed his irritation, she did n't show it. Instead, she just turned back to the window.

"I'm just thinking," she said.

"About what?" Edward demanded.

For a moment, she didn't answer, and Edward opened his mouth, ready to snap at her, when she said, "There was a man in my family, Abram Baldric, who studied the Philosopher's Stone a long time ago. Actually, quite a lot of people in my family have shown interest in it over the generations. Anyway, about four hundred years ago, Abram compiled everything that he had discovered into a book."

Edward frowned while Alphonse and Armstrong looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Alphonse gasped.

"And you're only telling us this now?" Edward asked. "Why haven't you shown it to us?"

"Because it's encrypted," Dani replied, "in a code that even I haven't been able to crack yet. But I have been trying." She paused, seeming to be making a decision. "I made enough headway before we left that I should be able to decode it while you're looking into Doctor Marcoh's notes. Once I've finished, I'll bring it to you," she said before falling silent again.

The whole time that she had been talking, she never once moved her gaze from the scenery outside, and it made Edward wonder what else she was hiding from them. This whole time, she had been very careful about what she told them about herself, to the point that the only thing they did know about her was that she was a State Alchemist in title, and she had been working under Roy doing reconnaissance missions for two years now, and now this bit about her family being interested in the Stone.

Everything else that they knew about her, such as her personality, they had inferred for themselves. For whatever reason, Dani was keeping herself a secret.

Edward frowned again. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Finally, Dani looked at him, though it was only from the corner of her eye. But it was enough for him to figure that he was right. She was keeping something from them, something about the Stone he was sure.

"What is it?"

She said nothing. She just continued to stare at him.

This pissed Edward off, and he switched to glaring at her. "You know, this whole 'keeping things a mystery' thing is starting to piss me off," he snapped.

Dani looked like she wanted to say something, but she still remained silent. She did, at least, turn her head to look at him fully, and Edward guessed that it was a little better. But it wasn't going to lessen his anger any.

"You obviously know a lot about us, and about the Stone. You said that you asked to become my partner because you wanted to help. But your silence isn't doing us any good."

Alphonse and the Major looked between the two of them cautiously as Dani started to smile.

"You're right," Dani said. "I haven't been exactly fair about that. What do you want to know?"

Edward blinked in surprise, not having expected her to give in so easily. "Uh, well…" He paused, trying to decide what he wanted to ask first. Finally, he said, "I suppose you could start with _why_ you've been keeping everything a secret."

"I haven't been. You're just not asking the right questions."

He frowned at the cryptic response. "What does that mean?"

Dani settled back in her seat, her gloved hands folded in her lap. "The only thing you've asked me about myself up until this point is why I want to help you find the Philosopher's Stone. The reason why I'm not giving you an answer is because it involves something that I'm not comfortable telling you about yet. And even if I was comfortable with it, you still haven't decided whether or not you want me to stay, right?"

He nodded.

"Why tell you something so personal if I might not even be here in a few days?"

Edward frowned again. "Okay, I see your point," he admitted. "But what if I wanted to ask you something less personal?"

"Then I would gladly answer," she said. "Because you _are_ right. I do know quite a lot about you and your brother, so it's only fair that I tell you whatever you want to know about me."

He leaned forward until he could prop himself up with his arms lying across his lap. "All right, if that's true, then you won't mind telling me what's really bothering you," he challenged. He figured that, if she was willing to be so open, she would not mind telling him that much.

Dani smiled. "You have a one-tracked mind, Edward."

Edward just stared at her, waiting.

Her smile dropped as she nodded. "Okay. There is something that's been bugging me. I said before that I've made some headway on decoding Abram's book. There was something there that I didn't think too much about until we heard what Doctor Marcoh had to say. However, I don't want to tell you what I'm thinking until I know for sure that I'm right."

He nodded, albeit reluctantly. "Sounds reasonable."

"So am I off the hook?" she asked innocently.

The corners of Edward's lip twitched without his consent. "For now," he conceded.

Dani grinned.


End file.
